Isabel MartÃnez sonrÃa y hace señales con las manos enfrente de las cámaras el viernes 7 de julio del 2017, durante su primera comparecencia en una corte de Lawrenceville, Georgia. MartÃnez, de 33 años, está acusada de matar a puñaladas a su esposo MartÃn Romero y sus cuatro hijos el 6 de junio. También se le acusa de herir de gravedad a otra menor en su casa en Loganville, comunidad de casas móviles. (AP Foto/John Bazemore)
A mother accused of fatally stabbing her husband and four children in Georgia told caseworkers she felt a “devil-like spirit” during a family trip prior to the alleged killings, according to a state child welfare report.
The report by the state’s Division of Family and Children Services, obtained by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, includes an interview with Isabel Martinez, 33, who claimed she felt the “devil-like spirit” during a trip to Savannah, where she felt waves trying to take her and her children away.
Martinez also told DFCS caseworkers that she was innocent and claimed a “family friend” committed the gruesome killings on July 6 at the family’s home in Loganville. Martinez even tried to stop the friend, but he cut her on her wrist, according to the report, which also contains an account from the lone survivor in the home, Martinez’s 9-year-old old daughter, Diana Romero, who was seriously injured.
Isabel Martinez gestures towards news cameras during her first court appearance Friday, July 7, 2017, in Lawrenceville, Ga. Martinez is charged with killing four of her children and their father. (AP Photo/John Bazemore) (Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
Diana told caseworkers she saw Martinez stabbing the rest of her family and said she was “going to the sky to see Jesus” before attacking her. The girl replied that she didn’t want to see Jesus and reported that her father tried to stop Martinez but was unable to do so.
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Diana, who was stabbed by Martinez, still has a long road to recovery ahead, relatives have said. Four days after the alleged killings, she spoke to the state agency about the attacks, but only after mentioning having a good time with her family on the beach in Savannah.
The girl said Martinez and her father, Martin Romero, didn’t fight on the trip and that her mother seemed normal. She began crying when recalling the events of July 6, saying her family appeared to be asleep just prior to the alleged stabbings.
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