Crash victim ‘was very, very loved’
When Sharon Green moved to Baltimore, her sister Pattie Lynn Martinez was happy to take her in, Green recalled.
But when Martinez fell on hard times and became homeless, she wouldn’t let her family return the favor — she loved Baltimore too much.
“She never wanted to leave Baltimore, as much as we tried,” Green said.
Martinez, 46, was among the five people on a Maryland Transit Administration bus who were killed Tuesday morning when a school bus plowed into it on Frederick Avenue in Southwest Baltimore. The school bus driver also was killed.
Police put out a bulletin Friday saying they had been unable to find Martinez’s family and asked for the public’s help in reaching them. Green said by phone from Tennessee that police made formal contact Friday afternoon with the family.
“She was very, very loved by her family,” Green said. “It’s just horrible. Horrible.”
Martinez had ties to the Hispanic community in Baltimore, her sister said, and was married to a man named Santos Martinez. But he had been deported to El Salvador, Green said, and the family had lost contact with him. Martinez tried unsuccessfully to get a divorce in 2012, online court records show.
Green described her sister as free-spirited, happy-go-lucky and independent. Martinez had a signature style, Green said, and often wore black sweaters over dresses, making her easy to spot walking down the street.
Martinez had worked in construction for Whiting-Turner Contractors and was hoping to continue her education to find a new career, Green said.
When she was younger, Martinez fell off a cliff and suffered a hip injury that never properly healed and which, Green said, got worse as she got older. A recent post on Martinez’s Facebook page complained of health problems and other posts described the current difficulties she was facing.
“I have a broken hip and trying my best to get around,” one post read. “You can approach me and talk to me. I’m not a bad person just because I’m going through difficult times!!!” Pattie Lynn Martinez had worked for a construction firm and wanted to continue her education, her sister said.