‘He destroyed the family.’ Idaho man, guilty of murdering his girlfriend, sentenced
A man who shot and killed his girlfriend in Nampa last year will serve at least 13 years in prison, and could spend the rest of his life behind bars, depending on his future behavior.
Alfonso Leon, 24, and his defense attorney made a binding plea deal known as an Alford plea, which meant that the sentence was essentially predetermined, despite objections from a victim’s family member. He pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in April.
On May 22, 2022, Nampa police responded to a house in the 80 block of South Drifter Loop and found Julie Martinez, 21, in an upstairs bathroom, covered in blood with a bullet casing near her, according to previous reporting by the Idaho Statesman. She was transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise and died there about 40 minutes after officers responded.
Leon was described at the sentencing hearing as her boyfriend by her father, Humberto Martinez.
“It’s very clear that there is a history of abuse here that ultimately led to the death of Julie Martinez,” Canyon County Deputy Prosecutor Delia Hanes said, adding that Leon abused at least one woman besides Martinez and has fought with other inmates since he’s been in jail. Leon should also not have had a gun that night because he had a prior felony conviction and was on probation at the time, she said.
Hanes said the plea deal was “appropriate” because there were no eyewitnesses to the murder, and a jury could have been unpredictable. Leon’s history of abuse also could not have been presented at a trial, she said. Leon had previously told someone else in the house that Martinez “took my gun and shot her head,” according to previous Statesman reporting.
Maday Soria, Martinez’s cousin, objected.
“Thirteen years is nothing for what he did,” she said in a victim impact statement.
“He destroyed the family.”
Third District Judge Thomas Whitney said he could understand the family’s concerns about the plea agreement, but that “it’s not an open and shut case.” In accordance with the deal, he sentenced Leon to 13 years fixed, during which he will be in state prison, and life indeterminate, meaning he could be in prison or on parole during that time.
Whitney also ordered Leon to pay about $20,000 in fines, costs and restitution and to have no contact with Martinez’s father, daughter or sister for the next 60 years.
He said his goal for Leon is that he would not spend the rest of his life in prison and would take steps to rehabilitate himself. But if he doesn’t accept responsibility, Whitney said, 13 years will not be long enough and he may never get parole.
“The single most aggravating thing is that a young woman is dead at your hands and she did nothing to cause that to occur,” Whitney told Leon. “It is a tragedy.”
