Civil suit over Oñate shooting settled out of court
ESPAÑOLA, N.M. – It was a scary afternoon in Española last fall when a fight broke out between protesters and a counterprotester near the site of a proposed Juan de Oñate statue.
Video shows a shooter pulling out a gun and firing one shot before fleeing the scene.
23-year-old Ryan Martinez is charged with that shooting. The victim, Jacob Johns, was taken to the hospital. He was there for more than a month and underwent multiple surgeries.
“He lost his spleen, he is missing parts of his liver, his stomach, and his pancreas. So it was an incredibly serious wound that he received,” said John Day, attorney for Jacob Johns.
Back in January, he sued Martinez and his family for assault, battery, personal injury and negligence.
“The lawsuit itself explains that the parents were the ones who were aware, and under the claims of the civil lawsuit, were aware of the situation. Beyond that I can’t discuss more terms of it,” Day said.
The lawsuit claimed Martinez’s parents knew he was “obsessed with guns.” Reportedly, there was an incident where neighbors called the cops after seeing Martinez walk around heavily armed late at night.
Back in 2018, Martinez was reportedly questioned by the FBI for making threatening posts online.
This week, the civil case was settled. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but this isn’t the end of this case. The criminal trial of Martinez is only a few months away.
“He is looking forward to having his day in court basically in this criminal case as the victim of this shooting. Jacob is really pleased that the elected DA is the one taking the case to trial. And it will be up to the DA to determine who she calls, but it would make sense for Jacob to testify because he was the one who got shot,” Day said.
The criminal case is set to start in early July. Johns is listed as a witness, but it is unclear at this time if he will take the stand.
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