SAN ANTONIO – A shouting match and a lot of tears punctuated a sentencing hearing for a man who pleaded guilty to stabbing his wife to death last year.
Christian Martinez, 33, attacked his wife, 32-year-old Monica Martinez, with a knife in what his lawyer said was a jealous rage on the afternoon of Feb. 21, 2018, at the couple’s South Side home.
As part of a plea agreement, Christian Martinez was sentenced to 37 years in prison.
After he was formally sentenced by District Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl on Thursday, the victim’s family addressed Martinez.
“Just to get this clear, I will never forgive you,” the victim’s sister said. “I was hoping you’d get the death penalty, but at the same time, I want you to suffer in those four walls and remember the day you murdered my sister.”
“You were never a father to us,” the victim’s teenage daughter said to Martinez. “Don’t ever try to write to me and my siblings and don’t try to find us. You are dead to me.”
The family asked that their names not be included in this report.
Martinez shouted at the victim’s father when he tried to speak, and deputies quickly hustled him to a holdover cell adjacent to the courtroom.
Martinez must serve half of the 37-year sentence before he is eligible for parole.