After her son was killed by police in Thornton, the mother wants answers

THORNTON, Colorado – The family of a man shot and killed by police in Thornton is still searching for details about his death.

On May 14, Thornton police reported that officers shot and killed 26-year-old Brandon Martinez after he fled a traffic stop. His mother, Jacqueline Sabala, said the medical examiner told her he was shot three times.

Sabala arrived at the scene shortly after the shooting. She knew nothing about the incident, but sensed that it was a serious incident and that her son was involved.

“I saw an officer recording the tape and then all of a sudden it became real… I literally felt like I was going to fall over,” Sabala said.

Officers reported that Martinez was driving erratically near East 112th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.

“His girlfriend told me they ran out of gas and the car was idling,” Sabala said.

When officers tried to stop him, police said he ran out of the car and shot at them.

Sabala, who had seen him just 10 minutes earlier, couldn’t remember him having a gun. His girlfriend, who was with him at the time, couldn’t remember either. They only remembered seeing him with a large black walkie-talkie. Sabala admits she can’t be sure because she wasn’t there.

Since then, Sabala and her family say they have not received any more information about the incident from Thornton police.

“There were about four or five officers and investigators who approached me, and I called all of them and no one called back,” Sabala said.

Martinez had an extensive criminal history and faced prison time for charges including assault and theft, which Sabala does not deny.

“At no point did I feel like he should get away with something like that. If he had a gun and shot at the police officers, there are consequences. I just want to know what happened,” she said.

Martinez died in the hospital. His death came two weeks after Lakewood police shot and killed another man, Joby Vigil.

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Sabala said it appears that shooting suspects is becoming a standard police tactic.

“Punish them if they deserve it, but can there be anything other than just shooting them down? The families are suffering,” Sabala said.

At the time of his death, Sabala said, her son was not on parole and there was no warrant for his arrest. Martinez had recently completed a three-year prison sentence and had been home for seven months. That’s the longest he’s spent at home after years of being in and out of prison, Sabala said.

Guilty or not, Sabala insisted that a mother had the right to know.

“My family and I could handle it if that had happened. It would give us peace and closure. Just to know that this happened,” she said.

Thornton police have not released any information about the shooting to the public and did not respond to a 9NEWS request for comment on the investigation.

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