Man charged in fatal crash to stand trial in September

Martinez


By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
http://www.salisburypost.com/area/293874324679430.php
A Kannapolis man charged in a car crash that resulted in the death of a pregnant woman and her unborn child will be tried Sept. 17.
Rigo Verto Guillen-Martinez, 33, made a brief court appearance Monday, at which time a date for his trial was set.
Martinez, wearing a white shirt and khaki-colored pants, walked with a three-prong cane and a limp as he entered and left the Rowan County Superior Court courtroom.
He faces a litany of charges pertaining to the wreck that happened in Landis in February. Leeanna Newman, 20, and her unborn child, Bianca, died in a horrific collision on South Main Street.
Martinez was fleeing a Kannapolis Police officer at a high rate of speed at the time of the wreck.
The charges Martinez faces include second-degree murder, DWI, hit and run and failure to stop for property damage, plus aggravating factors pertaining to the death of Newman's unborn child.
On Monday, District Attorney Bill Kenerly presented Judge John Holshouser with information pertaining to the case that the judge briefly reviewed.
When Holshouser passed the information along to another court official, Kenerly said, "Your honor, that's all we have for Mr. Martinez."
Martinez was led from the courtroom by his attorney, Salisbury's Carlyle Sherrill. Martinez shuffled through the courthouse and across a courtyard outside, then climbed into a law-enforcement van for transport back to jail.
Afterwards, Kenerly said Monday's hearing was more a formality than anything. "It's all about scheduling," he said.
Members of Newman's family expressed disgust as they watched Martinez being led from court, questioning if he was as seriously injured as he wanted court officials to believe.
"He's not even using that cane," Newman's grandmother, Rena Fox, observed as Martinez moved slowly past on the way out of the courthouse.
"I wish Leeanna was in that position and he was in hers," Fox continued.
Law enforcement officials determined that Martinez entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico and had been arrested numerous times using at least a half-dozen aliases prior to February's fatal wreck.
The collision in which Newman died occurred when Martinez was driving a 1992 Jeep Cherokee about 80 mph when he tried to turn from South Main Street onto Highland Avenue.
His Jeep overran Newman's Saturn, then overturned and came to rest on its top.
Newman died at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte and efforts to save her unborn child were unsuccessful. Her 21-month-old daughter, Mallory, who was strapped in a car seat in the back seat of the Saturn, survived the accident.
Martinez was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center where he remained for several days. When he made his first appearance in a Rowan County courtroom in February, both his legs were in casts from the knees down.
A Grand Jury indicted Martinez on second-degree murder charges and he has been held under a $1 million bond since.
Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@salisburypost.com.