Teenkilledin Hartford home invasion was 'fearless' athlete and 'star of the class,' officials say

Jul. 20—"She always had a smile on her face," said Juan Dominguez, Vega-Martinez's physical education teacher. "She will truly be missed by everyone at the school. It's a shame that we can't get to see her shine through her senior year."

"I had her in class, and she was basically the star of the class," he said. "She was very athletic."

Vega-Martinez played on the school's basketball, softball and volleyball teams, but volleyball was her main focus. She was especially good at serving, school staff members said Wednesday.

"She was a tiny person, she was probably not more than 100 pounds," Dominguez said. "And she was fearless on the volleyball court."

Diane Callis, the school's athletic director, said, "She just had a great serve. That ball would just pierce. If she hit it right, they couldn't return it. She just had a beautiful serve."

If the team was losing by a few points, and she was about to serve, the assumption was that they wouldn't be losing for long, Callis said. They'd say, "OK, we've got Alondra on the line, we can pick up a couple of points."

Despite her size, "She was an aggressive player," Callis said. "She did not shy away from challenges. She hated to lose."

—

Q&A: Joe Lieberman on his 'rebellion' against Democrats, GOP

—

Founders expect to open Windsor's Dudleytown Brewing soon

She didn't have to bear much loss on the volleyball court this past season, Callis said.

Thanks, in part, to her talent "this was the best year we've had in a number of years; we were 13 and 4," Callis said.

Vega-Martinez helped the team in other ways, too. She often jumped in to translate for Spanish-speaking players, Callis and Dominguez said. There was talk of her being captain her senior year.

Dominguez said she volunteered to help him during gym class and afterward.

"She was very helpful with everyone in the classes. She would kind of volunteer to be my student aide, help me with other students who were struggling, helpful with everyone around her," Dominguez said.

"She had a full heart," he said. "Even though she was so diminutive in size, she was highly spirited."

A Girl Scout, Vega-Martinez also was respectful, he added, often asking, ""Mr Dominques, how can I help? What do you need me to do?' She was just an extraordinary person, to tell you the truth."

He also described her as smart and witty, and said she had artistic abilities, too. She gave him some of her artwork; he has it at school.

"She excelled in art and photography," said Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, superintendent of schools, in announcing Vega-Martinez's death.

The superintendent's letter had a hint of anger. This is the second time this year she had to announce the shooting death of a Hartford Public Schools student. In April, a 12-year-old girl, Se'Cret Pierce, died after being shot while sitting in a parked car on Huntington Street. She was a seventh-grade student at Thirman L. Milner Middle School.

And in November 2014, another Bulkeley student, sophomore Bryan Salaman, was fatally stabbed by his cousin during an argument. Edwin Ruiz was sentenced a year later to 10 years in prison, followed by 10 years of special parole after pleading guilty to a charge of first-degree manslaughter, court records show.

"It is with deep regret that I once again share the tragic news that one of our students has died due to gun violence in the community," Torres-Rodriguez wrote. "I am deeply disturbed and saddened by the violence that impacts many of our students and their families."

Although Torres- Rodriguez provided a comprehensive list of social service options for students and families, Callis said it's especially hard when such tragedies happen when school is not in session.

"It's summer, and we're not with our kids to be able to give them a hug," she said. "It's not the same, because we're not in a building together."

Calling Vega-Martinez a "young, bright life, full of spirit," Callis said, "It's just heartbreaking. It's still just so senseless and tragic. My heart has been broken the last couple of days."

The 17-year-old, she said, "was someone you knew had potential, you knew wanted life after high school."

Police say they have no evidence that Vega-Martinez was anything but an innocent victim.

Violent intrusion

According to a warrant for the arrest of one of the suspected intruders, Carlos Nieves, of Philadelphia, Nieves and two other Pennsylvania men showed up at Vega-Martinez's home Saturday afternoon for what police say was an attempted robbery.

Nieves appears to be the man captured on video posing as a police officer and pointing a gun at Christian Rivera, 35, after Rivera opened the door to his second-floor apartment in the 500 block of Maple Avenue shortly after 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 15, the warrant says.

Rivera's surveillance camera showed the armed intruder forced him to the floor while the other two went to the back of the apartment, brought out Vega-Martinez and a 15-year-old boy and bound the hands of all three behind their backs with zip ties, the warrant says. The two teens were taken to the rear of the apartment — off-camera — while the intruder with the gun kept asking in Spanish "Where is the stuff?" and the other two men rummaged through the apartment, according to the warrant.

At the end of the video, the armed robber put a blanket over Rivera's head and forced him to the back of the apartment, where gunfire erupts, the warrant says.

Police don't know exactly what led up to the exchange of gunfire but believe Rivera failed to comply with the suspect's demands, according to the warrant. The shootout killed Vega-Martinez and one of the men from Philadelphia, who police identified as Joseph Vargas-Mercado, 25, the warrant says.

Rivera and Nieves were shot and critically injured. Rivera remained in the hospital Wednesday, Lt. Aaron Boisvert said.

Nieves was discharged from the hospital and arraigned Tuesday on charges that include murder and home invasion. He remains in custody at the Hartford Correctional Center on $3 million bail, prison records show.

The third intruder got away, Boisvert said.

He didn't discuss the connection between the home and the men from Philadelphia. Police said earlier in the week that they found a lot of cash, a money-counting machine and an illegal gun with its serial number obliterated in the apartment.