Westminster Man Found Guilty In Murder Of Girlfriend

GOLDEN, CO – A Jefferson County jury found a Westminster man guilty of fatally shooting his 22-year-old girlfriend on her birthday last year.

Ezekiel Mark Garcia, 25, was found guilty this week of first-degree murder and tampering with evidence, the Jefferson County District Attorney's Office said.

Garcia was accused of killing 22-year-old Destini Martinez by fatally shooting her while the couple's 5-year-old son was also in the home. The two had an intermittent relationship since junior high school, the DA's office said in a statement.

According to prosecutors, on March 7, 2018, Westminster police were called to a residence in the 5500 block of West 79th Avenue to attend to a gunshot victim. Police said Garcia called 911, but gave a false name and then fled the home with the boy. Police found Martinez lying on the bed with a gunshot wound to her head. She was pronounced dead at the scene, prosecutors said.

Garcia fled in his car, first dropping the boy off at his mother's home. He then drove to the Evergreen area along I-70. Garcia said at trial that he threw the murder weapon off the side of I-70 as he fled. Police were able to trace him by his cell phone as he drove, the DA's office said.

Police found the child at Garcia’s mother’s home. Garcia then turned himself in at the Thornton Police Department, prosecutors said.

The victim Martinez and Garcia had been out to dinner earlier that evening to celebrate her birthday with family and friends. Witnesses testified that the couple had been arguing earlier that day, the DA's office said.

The jury heard that the couple had a history of domestic violence. Garcia had threatened to kill Martinez on multiple occasions, and he stabbed her in the leg with a knife five weeks prior to the murder, prosecutors said.

Garcia is scheduled to appear for sentencing on March 19, 2019. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole, the DA's office said.

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