Family of boy shot in Acampo raising funds to pay for funeral
Family members on Monday described 15-yearold Dominic Martinez as funny, sweet and friendly, and were in shock that he was taken from them last Friday.
“He was sweet,” his sister Amaya Martinez said. “He was a little bit if a bad kid at times, but deep down he was a sweetheart. Everybody loved him. I practically raised him. He was like my first son before I had my own son. We really had a good connection. I just feel like I lost my baby. He was a great person, friendly, just the best honestly.”
Dominic Martinez was identified by the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office as the victim of a shooting in Acampo Friday afternoon.
Members of the Martinez family and their close friends held a car wash fundraiser at the Valero gas station at 800 S. Cherokee Lane Monday afternoon trying to raise funds for his funeral.
Amaya Martinez said the family does not have a set goal, but they hope to raise about $5,000 through a GoFundMe page they set up in recent days.
Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the shooting just after 2 p.m. last Friday in the 19600 block of the North Highway 99 Frontage Road in Acampo.
When deputies arrived, they found that a 15-yearold had died from a gunshot wound, the Sheriff’s Office said.
A 17-year-old boy at the residence was detained, and after speaking with him and witnesses, he was taken to the San Joaquin County Juvenile Justice Center. The gun was recovered from the scene, the Sheriff’s Office said.
“My brother was out in Acampo, and I guess he was at a friend’s house,” Amaya Martinez said. “I got a call from my mom saying Dominic was shot. At first we thought he shot himself on accident, but come to find out when we got there I guess one of his friends he was staying with accidentally shot him.”
Amaya Martinez said she and her brother were raised in Stockton, but spent a lot of time in Lodi. Dominic in recent years had been bouncing between the homes of family and friends, she said.
His uncle Thomas Daniels said Dominic had been recently been staying with him and had promised to finish his education at Edison High School in Stockton. Daniels said when he heard of his nephew’s death, he kept
telling himself it wasn’t true and couldn’t stop crying.
“I love him, I wish he was here,” Daniels said. “He was the best man I ever knew. I did everything I can for him. He was taken at a young age, only 15. He told me he was going to finish at Edison, and I told him I’d give him my Honda, and he told me he was going to go to school in my car. And then right after that, this happened. It’s just sad.”
Lee Martinez said his brother was a funny kid, and he knew whenever Dominic walked out of the house, he had a feeling he’d get involved in some sort of crazy stunt.
“He was always doing something stupid,” Lee Martinez said. “I was just with him a week ago so I’m like, ‘this is weird.’ How am I going to my brother a week ago, and now I can’t see him anymore? I know he’s in a better place now, but he was gone too soon.”
To donate, visit https://tinyurl.com/Martinezfuneral.