Isabel Martinez smiled and posed with a double thumbs-up for the camera during a court appearance on Friday, just hours after being arrested for stabbing four of her children and her husband to death in the family’s Georgia home.
The oldest child victim was 10 years old, while the youngest was only two.
According to the Associated Press, Martinez, 33, was arrested after 911 operators received a call early Thursday morning from a Spanish-speaking person, now believed to be Martinez. Responders reportedly told local news outlets that the language barrier initially made it very difficult to communicate with her.
Police say Martinez also stabbed her fifth child, but that the nine-year-old girl survived. She’s been listed in serious but stable condition at a hospital in Atlanta.
Martinez is being held without bond and has been placed under an immigration detainer, according to the New York Times, who got the information from a press release from the local police department.
The mother/wife has been charged. The children were ages 2-10. The male was 33 years old. The injured 9yr old is in stable condition at hosp pic.twitter.com/JPXFRa81hD
— Gwinnett Police Dept (@GwinnettPd) July 6, 2017
Reports have stated the family lived in a tight-knit immigrant community in Gwinnett County. Martinez, who was originally from Mexico, had reportedly just moved to Georgia with her family from Chicago. Liz Artz, a reporter with WSBTV, said neighbors claim the woman had been in the house with her dead family for at least 24 hours before calling the police, although it appears this information has yet to be verified by a coroner.
During her initial court appearance Friday, the AP reported Martinez smiled and showed off for the press in full view of the court.
Before the hearing began, Martinez sat with other inmates and struck poses for cameras — smiling, giving the thumbs up, putting her hands in a prayer position and spreading her arms out wide.
As Judge Thorpe listed the charges against her — five counts of malice murder, five counts of murder and six counts of aggravated assault — Martinez smiled, shook her head “no” and wagged her finger at him. The judge advised her sharply not to perform for the cameras.
Both the AP and the NYT report that Martinez may have been depressed after having recently lost her father, but added that no clear motive has been given for why she stabbed her entire family.