About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2024)
«i M V W* 77F it Advocates hope Jimmy Carter's year of hospice care will drive awareness, inside,3a Tuesday, February 20,20241 GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA I gainesvilletimes.com Honestly Local Man files to withdraw plea from ’21 murder of toddler BY NICK WATSON nwatson@gainesvilletimes.com A Gainesville man sentenced to 29 years in prison for the death of a 2-year-old girl has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, argu ing that his attorney did not “do any significant work” on his case, according to court documents. Juan Martinez, 34, and Nancy Martinez, 35, pleaded guilty Oct. 30 on charges related to the death of 2-year-old Valeria Jordan Garfias. Martinez was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Jason Deal to 30 years with the first 29 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder. Martinez made what is known as an Alford plea, where he maintains his innocence while conceding the evidence against him would be enough for a conviction. The two child cruelty charges against him were dismissed at the plea. Nancy Martinez pleaded guilty to second-degree child cruelty at the same time. She was sentenced to 10 years with eight years to serve in prison. Nancy Martinez's maxi mum possible release date from the prison system is Sept. 16,2031. The Martinez couple was taking care of the 2-year-old girl while her mother was away for work. “While sitting her down in her chair, I was angry and that's when I hit her,” Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Bagwell said at the plea hearing, quoting Juan Martinez's interview. “I was walking away from the chair, and that's when I saw her fall out.” The motion to withdraw this plea walked through the history of the case, including the disqualification of Juan Martinez's prior attorney and the plea late last year. Deal disqualified attorney Arturo Corso Aug. 2, 2022, from representing both defendants, though both had signed waivers regarding the potential conflict of interest. Corso had previously filed See Martinez 13A Martinez Photos by Scott Rogers The Times Poll officer Devin Pandy shows voters the way through the Gainesville Civic Center Monday, Feb. 19, 2024, on the first day of early voting. Early voting will take place weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Feb. 19-March 1, from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. March 4-March 8 and on Saturdays from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Casting their ballots Gas station might take place of old demolished church BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com With its white steeple, stained glass windows and playground, the brick church was a longtime, familiar sight for motorists lining up to turn at the busy intersec tion of Memorial Park Drive and Browns Bridge Road. This week, workers dismantled the old Trinity Pres byterian Church at 2023 Memorial Park Drive to make way for a “future retail strip center and gas station,” said Matt Tate, Gainesville's deputy director of com munity and economic development. “A demolition plan is the only thing that's been sub mitted at this time,” he said in an email this week. Chad Choi, the project's contractor, who is also help ing develop the property, confirmed as much. He said several retail uses were being considered, including a possible Mexican restaurant. Details aren't final, but “we do have a concept plan,” he said. Details about the church's status weren't available. A July 2019 Facebook post by the Northeast Geor gia Presbytery, which has member churches throughout Northeast Georgia, shows a picture of the church and says it is “highlighting and praying for the Leadership, Session and congregation” of Trinity. The general presbyter, the Rev. Hilary Shuford, also couldn't be reached for comment. A Hall County tax record shows that Northeast Geor gia Presbytery sold the property to DREMN 2 LLC of Lilburn for $1.3 million on Oct. 25. Rasool Haji Abdul lah is the owner of the company, Hall Chief Appraiser Steve Watson said. Abdullah couldn't be reached for comment Friday, F eb. 16. Also, according to Hall property records, a February 2016 permit was issued for “repairs from car running into church” and that a column, bricks and a door were replaced. Scott Rogers The Times The old Trinity Presbyterian Church along Memorial Park Drive is torn down Wednesday, Feb. 14, to make way for a gas station/retail center. Work to fix closed shopping center entrance ‘should start shortly’ BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com The Best Buy-anchored shop ping center on Dawsonville High- way/Ga. 53 in Gainesville could soon get one of its entrances back. “We are in the process of get ting this fixed,” said Tyler Cov ington, principal of Charlotte, N.C.-based Collett Capital, owner of the property at 670 Dawson ville Highway, in an email to The Times. "... There are a lot of different parties/approvals involved with this issue, including our neighbor and driveway owner Mister Car Wash. Construction should start shortly, and we look forward to completion and a return to regular traffic patterns.” A representative with Mister Car Wash, which is directly off the closed entrance, couldn't be reached for comment. The signalized entrance lines up with Shallowford Road, which runs between Ga. 53 and Pearl Nix Parkway. It has been closed since the Georgia Department of Trans portation announced its closure on June 26, 2023. “The area has been restricted to traffic due to a failed drainage pipe,” GDOT said in a press release at the time. “The driveway was unsafe,” GDOT district spokeswoman Elizabeth Johnson said in a recent email. “The property owner developed the shopping center, created the driveway and requested a permit for access to the state route. See Entrance 13A The entrance to the Best Buy-anchored shopping cen ter and Mister CarWash off Dawsonville Highway/Ga. 53 in Gainesville. Jeff Gill The Times
