Jurors fail to reach verdict in 2022 killing outside a Central Avenue bar

Jurors failed to reach a verdict Monday following the trial of a man whom prosecutors said fired 11 rounds outside a Central Avenue bar in 2022, killing 30-year-old Jonathan Garza.

The 2nd Judicial District Court jury split 10-2 in favor of convicting Isaac Martinez, 22, of first-degree murder in the Feb. 19, 2022, killing at First and Central.

The split decision followed a weeklong trial before Judge Brett Loveless.

Assistant District Attorney Jordan Machin said in closing arguments Monday that Martinez sought revenge for an earlier fight when Martinez and two co-defendants drove beside Garza and others in a Downtown parking garage.

Martinez stepped out of a maroon Jeep SUV holding a 10 mm handgun and yelled racial slurs at Garza, who was Black, Machin told jurors.

“He intended to kill someone in that moment, and he did,” she told jurors. Garza was struck by four gunshots, including two that struck him in the back, she said.

At least four rounds penetrated the wall of the bar where at least 10 employees were working the night of the killing.

“He knew he was going to kill somebody,” Machin said of Martinez. “He didn’t care who it was. He didn’t care what happened to anybody else.”

Martinez’s attorney, Megan Mitsunaga, said in closing arguments Monday that one of her client’s co-defendants, Alejandro Barton, fired the shots that killed Garza.

Barton, 25, pleaded guilty in 2024 to tampering with evidence and conspiracy for his role in Garza’s death and was sentenced to six years in prison.

“As inconvenient as it is to the state, their evidence points to Alejandro Barton,” Mitsunaga told jurors. Barton had the motive and owned the car and the weapon, she said.

The 10 mm pistol used in Garza’s killing was never recovered. Police found five 10 mm rounds during a search of Martinez’s residence.

Garza’s brother, Jerry Williams, testified last week that the day of his death, Garza had passed tests to become an athletic trainer and was celebrating with friends and family at Canvas Artistry, 1 Central Avenue NW.