Note: Kelvin Martinez pleaded guilty to a simple battery charge, a first-degree misdemeanor, on July 23, 2018, serving 115 days at the county jail. The felony child abuse charge was dropped in the plea agreement.
Four months ago Kelvin Martinez, a resident of Webster Lane in Palm Coast, was sentenced to 10 days at the county jail, 100 hours of community service and a year’s probation after being found guilty of drunk driving in Flagler Beach in November, his second drunk-driving conviction in five years.
On Monday, he was charged with child abuse and domestic battery by strangulation after allegedly striking and strangling his 14-year-old grandson during an argument over the grandson leaving his computer on during the day. Martinez faces two third-degree felony charges and is being held at the Flagler County jail on no bond, with a third charge–probation violation.
The 14-year-old told a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy that when he got home from school, he noticed his computer had been unplugged. He approached Martinez, 55, to tell him that a computer can be damaged when its power is turned off abruptly. Martinez, he says, began yelling at him about letting electronics run constantly in the house, and running up power bills. The boy yelled back. At that point, according to the boy, Martinez “smacked” him and caused him to fall, according to Martinez’s arrest report.
The fight allegedly got worse, with Martinez allegedly striking the boy with a closed fist above the eye, climbing on top of him and strangling him to the point of keeping him from breathing. The boy told deputies he then in turn put his hand around his grandfather’s throat and began striking him before being able to escape and retreat behind a couch in the living room until Martinez went into his bedroom. The boy then picked up a knife from the kitchen and ran across the street to call 911, and about that time is when Martinez left the house and drove to work at Daytona State College. (Martinez’s April DUI sentence revoked his driver’s license for five years. It’s not clear if he has a dispensation for driving to work, though the sentence specifies, “no vehicle during probation.”)
The boy lives at his grandfather’s home with his grandmother and father, who that day was out of town, but returned immediately on being informed of the incident. Meanwhile, a deputy contacted the Department of Children and Families “and requested an immediate response due to the extent of the injuries” to the boy, which also required the response of Flagler County Rescue 21, whose paramedics treated the boy, though he was not hospitalized.
When a deputy made contact with Martinez at Daytona State College, Martinez confirmed the series of exchanges that led to the fight, but said the boy started swinging at him and struck him above the left eye enough to make a mark and continued to swing, at which point Martinez says he took him down, though he denied at any point striking or choking him. Once the boy calmed down, Martinez says, he left the house and went to work. The deputy concluded that based on the extent of visible injuries on the boy’s neck and face, Martinez was deemed the primary aggressor and charged accordingly.
Martinez has a no-contact order with the boy, which would normally require him not to be at the residence when the boy is there, once Martinez is released from jail. His felony arraignment before Circuit Judge Dennis Craig is scheduled for Sept. 25.
Don't you just love the sunshine state lol says
People in palm coast suck. I remember going over to my sister inlaws house and was using the computer and her daughter came out of bedroom every time I walked away from the computer and turned it off. In my house we leave it on day and night. I had to be some sort of control issue. Just really bizarre to say the least🤢
woody says
I know I get violent after seeing my FPL bill.
DRedder says
To blame an entire city for a couple of jackass’s yours included is wrong
just saying says
Bizarre that you read this article about one horrible human being and use it to condemn the people of Palm Coast.
#Bernie2020 says
It costs about $32 a year to run a laptop so about $3 dollars a month if you leave it on all day and night. I am sure that lawyer bill and loss of a job is going to be worth that outburst.
Female Veteran says
This is exactly what I was JUST thinking as well!! SMDH!!
Female Veteran says
@Woody… well hopefully for all of us you have made your self righteous way outta Palm Coast and outta our state as well since it’s so, so bad for you.. pretty sad that’s the only thing you have to say when it has NOTHING to do with the location of this or any other incident.. LOL
Anonymous says
This state is a melting pot and Unfortunately a melting pot of people who have nothing that come from other parts of the country looking for paradise but instead they come down with their problems , financial and personal problems , you have children living with grandparents who barely can’t take care of themselves. I have a house by me where a mother is taking care of her daughters 3 kids plus her daughter and plus her daughters boyfriend ,(who’s your daddy?) this is no miracle state in eliminating your problem baggage from other states . You either have to come down here with a pension or a good education with a good job in line so you can live a decent life and not be a burden upon your community
Brother Man says
When a good man is pushed to the brink of his nerves and commits an error, the world loves to focus on that one thing he did wrong under great pressure. We never stop to think on the life long record of things he’s done right. We misread the person and assassinate his character altogether. I personally have not met anyone whether from this State or any other who has not faltered in one thing or another. Bad things happen to good people every day and it doesn’t mean they’re CRIMINALS or HORRIBLE people. It just means they’re human. The problem in this country today is the lack of respect for Seniors, authority figures and parents who go out of their way to raise kids with a sense of dignity or what is right. People are quick to misjudge. I hear this man is a responsible hard working American from NYC who loves his family very much. He volunteers in the community and at three different local churches. His mother died of Cancer, which put him in a period of deep depression for a while but is doing fine now. We should remember that we’re all human and we all make mistakes.