They had just returned from a trip to the beach — five young siblings and their parents, celebrating the long Fourth of July holiday in their adopted country.
Presumably the five children, who ranged in age from 23 months to 10 years, went to bed last Wednesday night with happy memories of their trip, oblivious to what lie ahead. For Axel, Dillon and Dacota Romero and oldest sister Isabela Martinez, it would be the last time they’d ever dream.
IN-DEPTH: In quiet Loganville neighborhood, a horrendous crime
Their mother, Isabel Martinez, has been charged with fatally stabbing them and their father, Martin Romero, 33, in the early morning hours of July 6. One of the siblings, 9-year-old Diana Romero, survived the bloody rampage and is “steadily improving” but faces a “long road to recovery both physically and mentally,” the Romero family said in a statement released to the media before Thursday’s funeral mass at Lawrenceville’s St. Lawrence Catholic Church.
“First, we would like to thank you all for the outpouring of support and the continuous prayers that have been given to our family through this unimaginable circumstance,” the statement read. “The love and kindness we have received from many has been a comfort for us in our time of grief.”
The Romero’s large extended family surrounded the caskets in the church’s lobby as Father John blessed the deceased, the children’s caskets forming a semi-circle behind their father’s. Family members’ faces were a mix of sadness and shock as they struggled to comprehend all that’s been lost.
Mourners filled the chapel, which seats 750, to near capacity, a reflection of the degree to which this tragedy has impacted Gwinnett, particularly its large Hispanic community. It’s likely many in attendance didn’t even know the Romeros, who, family members say moved to Loganville within just the past few months, but they came out of respect, united by grief.
People’s feelings towards Martinez, locked in a jail cell three miles from the church, are awash in confusion. To some, she is a monster. To others, she is a victim of mental issues that were likely never identified or treated.
During her first appearance in court last Friday, some 36 hours after the murders, Martinez’s behavior was astoundingly bizarre. She played to the cameras, alternately smiling and smirking. She flashed the thumbs-up sign and clasped her hands in prayer, then told the judge she didn’t need an attorney, though one was appointed.
That attorney, Robert Greenwald, on Monday requested a psychiatric evaluation be conducted on his client’s behalf. Family members and neighbors said Martinez, 33, was devastated by the recent death of her father, adding her behavior changed dramatically in the weeks following.
“This is a horrendous crime, we agree. However, the line between sanity and insanity is very thin, and those who condemn Isabel should pray that they never lose their balance and fall over that line,” P.G. Olive wrote on the Romero’s GoFundMe page, started to help allay the costs of the funeral and Diana’s medical bills. “It can happen to anyone; no one is immune.”
Credit: Hyosub Shin
Credit: Hyosub Shin
The service Thursday lasted through sunset, ending with a Canto de Despedida, Song of Farewell:
“May the choirs of angels come to greet you. May they speed you to paradise.”
About the Author
