Family of Man Shot in Echo Park Calls for End of Violence

"Why can't they stop?" asked Rosemary Cano, an aunt of David "Dizzy" Martinez, an Echo Park resident shot on March 19 by police. "The violence just seems to be escalating."

Cano was one of about three dozen people who gathered near Echo Park Avenue and Sunset Boulevard early Saturday afternoon to show their support for Martinez, who attended Belmont High School.

Martinez, 47 was shot by police a reported three times early on March 19 and remains hospitalized at L.A. County-USC Medical Center.

Martinez's common law wife Gina Benavidez gave her version at the rally of the events on March 19.

She said she left her husband standing on Echo Park Avenue just north of Sunset to walk to the Taco Azizas truck on Logan Street.

Just as she was placing his order for two lengua tacos she heard police tell him to "hit the floor" as they shined a bright light.

She said he ran west on Sunset instead and seconds later she heard the gunfire begin.

Original media reports suggested that Martinez had fired first.  But the LAPD released a statement this week that no weapon had been found at the corner and that officers "initiated the contact."

Martinez was well-known at the corner, and in the area immediately around it. He did odd jobs at nearby El Clasico Tattoo shop and was frequently seen sitting on the wall around the Walgreen's parking.

A comment on Echo Park-Silver Lake Patch tells the story of Martinez staying with her neighbor's young child after finding the three-year-old wandering in the middle of Sunset Boulevard.

Angie Cano, Martinez's mother, said, like others at the rally, that while her son had had his issues with alcohol and jail time, he was not violent and did not carry a gun.

"You're going to tell me that an ex-gang member, which he is, cannot come out of his home to buy tacos without being harassed by the LAPD?" she said.

Alice O'Dailey, an Echo Park resident who organized the rally, added this:

"I feel like this is about race and poverty. There are plenty of rich people who have drinking problems, but they don't have run-ins with police."