A Husband And Wife Were Fighting For A Restraining Order. They Were Killed Outside The Courthouse.
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Rachael Martinez, 31, and her husband, Jose Medina, 39, were trying to keep their family safe.
After she ended a brief affair in September, Martinez had been talking to San Diego police. She told them after she ended things with 26-year-old Christopher Farrell, a security guard with the local transit system who was licensed to carry a gun, he held her captive in his apartment, where he sexually assaulted her.
Police arrested him on Oct. 4, but ultimately, prosecutors didn’t file charges and the case was dropped. Authorities said they couldn’t corroborate her story and lacked the evidence to move forward.
Still, Martinez and Medina wanted to make sure Farrell didn’t get anywhere near them or their children. After receiving a temporary restraining order, Martinez and her husband were scheduled to face him in court to make it permanent — an option in California and a number of other states.
But just 30 minutes before their hearing on Nov. 13 at the downtown San Diego courthouse, Farrell gunned them down inside their car. He fled on foot, then was killed in a dramatic shootout with police about a mile away.
The couple leaves behind four children, ranging in age from 3 to 15, who are currently living with Martinez’s older sister, Charlene Martinez, their cousin Vincent Quitugua told HuffPost. The 3-year-old and his 5-year-old sister attend the Chicano Federation’s Barrio Logan Development Center, where their parents were remembered as caring and engaged.
In her request for the permanent restraining order, Rachael Martinez described Farrell’s physical abuse and harassment, and the fear she felt not just for herself, but for her family.
“I’m afraid of what [he] might do next,” she said.
Before a judge could consider her request, though, it escalated into a bloody rampage.
Rachael Martinez and Medina had been married since 2016, family members told ABC 10 News at a vigil held Thursday night at the spot where they were killed.
Rachael Martinez was an excellent cook and regularly hosted her tight-knit family at the couple’s house, Charlene Martinez told the outlet. Medina was big-hearted, gregarious and always the life of the party, she said.
Rachael Martinez started seeing Farrell “casually” after meeting him at work in August, she said in court documents obtained by HuffPost. A month later, on Sept. 28, her husband found out about the affair and confronted Farrell. The next day, she said, Farrell sent her a picture of the house she shared with her husband and children, demanding “proof” from her that she was married. After he threatened on Sept. 30 to come to her house, she agreed to meet Farrell at his apartment.
When she tried to leave, Farrell attacked her, she said. He handcuffed her and sexually assaulted her, leaving her bruised and frightened before he finally let her go, she said in court documents.
He continued to harass her and her husband, calling her 80 times in one day and sending her husband sexually explicit photos of her and Farrell, Rachael Martinez said in court documents. On Oct. 4, she sought treatment for her injuries from the sexual assault at a hospital, she said. They notified police, who took a report from her and arrested Farrell at his workplace. He was immediately fired from his job, and the gun he carried for work was confiscated.
He had his own gun at home, which Rachael Martinez noted in her restraining order request. As part of the temporary restraining order, Farrell was directed to relinquish any firearms in his possession and was prohibited from obtaining other guns. He was ordered to show proof of his compliance at the restraining order hearing, according to court documents.
The day after his arrest, Farrell bailed out from jail, a spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department told HuffPost. The case was inactivated on Nov. 12 — the day before Rachael Martinez and her husband were killed — after consultation with the San Diego District Attorney’s Office because of “insufficient evidence and corroboration,” a police spokesperson told HuffPost.
When asked for clarification, a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office referred HuffPost to a police news release.
The hearing regarding Rachael Martinez’s request for a permanent restraining order was postponed from Oct. 11 to Nov. 13 at 9 a.m. That day, the couple were parked just down the street from the courthouse when they were shot after 8:20 a.m. Police later found Farrell’s car five blocks away.
After shooting Rachael Martinez and Medina, Farrell reloaded his gun and took off running, according to a San Diego police news release. A police helicopter circled the area, sharing Farrell’s description over a loudspeaker as local media also covered the shootings live. Just after 9 a.m., a man spotted Farrell hiding behind a large electrical box and alerted authorities, according to police. As officers approached, Farrell began firing, shooting one officer in the hip, police said. Farrell was shot multiple times by two other officers and pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.
Behind the electrical box, detectives found a semi-automatic handgun, multiple folding knives, and a holster, knife sheath, and three magazines clipped to his pants.
The injured police officer, who was not publicly identified, is recovering, authorities said.
Nearly half of all women murdered in the U.S. are killed by a current or former intimate partner, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins, and more than half of those killings involve firearms.
Quitugua, Rachael Martinez’s cousin, created a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral expenses and the couple’s children.
The Chicano Federation also launched an online fundraiser to help support the children and their caregivers.
The organization’s Barrio Logan Child Development Center mourned the children’s “unimaginable loss” of their “loving and supportive guides.”
“Both were devoted parents who brought laughter and positivity to our center every day,” the preschool said.
Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.
