The girl whom the Martinez family remembered at graveside Sunday was the funny 16-year-old who would race into her grandma's kitchen for a snack after school and made sure everyone — even the pet Chihuahua — got a present at Christmas.
Two years after Alicia Martinez was shot and dismembered in a Denver basement, her family says delays in the trial of her accused killer have made it hard to put the gruesome images of her death out of their minds.
And the recent news that authorities recovered part of 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway's body earlier this month has brought those memories back with force.
Alicia's oldest brother, Michael Martinez, 27, organized a Sunday celebration of his sister's life at the
Mount Olivet Cemetery in Wheat Ridge, and he has attended all but one of the court hearings for her accused killer."Nothing's changed. It still feels like it was just yesterday," said Martinez, who lives in Denver. "Every time we go to court, it's like having a wound and reopening it — a wound that will never heal until this is done."
On Sunday, the family and friends brought pink and purple balloons, Alicia's favorite colors, to her grave.
Martinez said he has commissioned a new wooden cross to replace the one that once stood outside the home of the suspect in Alicia's slaying, Edward Timothy Romero, where the family held vigil on the anniversary of her death last year. It has been moved since the home was sold.
"We don't want to be there anymore," Martinez said. "We want to talk about all the good things, not what happened."
A older woman from Alicia's mother's neighborhood brought the teen to a small party in then-26-year-old Romero's garage. Authorities believe that on Oct. 22, 2010, once alone with her, Romero shot Alicia and then began dismembering her body to hide the evidence.
Romero, who suffers from a bipolar disorder according to statements made in court, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to a first-degree murder charge. Just before his trial began Oct. 4, his defense team made a last-minute claim Romero was incompetent and won a delay.
Grandmother Millie Cardona says once the trial is over, she'll be able to just remember the good parts of Alicia's life: the trips they took to the country, her goofy antics, the teen who sang in church, played soccer and planned to become a doctor.
But for now, it's still hard.
Cardona says she remembers the day authorities announced that the remains they found in an Arvada open space belonged to Westminster elementary-school student Jessica Ridgeway.
Cardona ran into the front yard, crying, to tell Martinez.
"We just pray to God and try to remember her with happy thoughts. That's the one thing that they cannot take away," Cardona said.
Martinez struggled to find advice for Jessica's family, other than to seek help from a counselor sooner rather than later.
He said it's different when you lose a loved one in the way they lost Alicia or the Ridgeways lost Jessica — there's no chance to say goodbye.
"I think it has a bigger impact on the family than someone who's killed by a gunshot," Martinez said. "Just knowing someone can do that to a child."
Jessica Fender: 303-954-1244, jfender@denverpost.com or twitter.com/oh_fender
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