Testimony begins in man's trial for 2022 shooting death outside a Central Avenue bar

Witnesses on Tuesday described a chaotic scene as groups of men threw punches outside a Central Avenue bar, ending in a man’s shooting death in 2022.

The melee was winding down when Isaac Martinez allegedly stepped out of a car and fired multiple gunshots, leaving 30-year-old Jonathan Garza lying dead in a parking lot, a prosecutor said in opening statements at Martinez’s trial.

Martinez, 22, is charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in Garza’s killing on Feb. 19, 2022, near First and Central.

The 2nd Judicial District Court trial is scheduled to continue through Friday before Judge Brett Loveless.

Martinez “gets out and yells a racial slur at Jon (Garza), who is African American, and Jon turns to react,” Assistant Deputy Prosecutor Penny Gilbert said in opening statements.

Garza’s brother saw that Martinez was holding a handgun and yelled, “Jon, no,” Gilbert said. Four gunshots fatally struck Garza in the back, she said.

Martinez’s attorney, Megan Mitsunaga, said in opening statements that a man other than her client fired the fatal gunshots. She also told jurors to remain skeptical of eyewitness accounts of the shooting.

“We are fallible human beings and our memories can be molded and altered when we go through an experience such as that of the eyewitnesses,” Mitsunaga said.

Witnesses were influenced when investigators focused on Martinez to the exclusion of other suspects, she said.

“That’s not actually a memory,” Mitsunaga told jurors. “That is a twisted recollection that has been focused for them on one individual, but it’s not what they actually saw.”

A co-defendant in the case, Alejandro 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.

Prosecutors told jurors that the fight began about 1:30 a.m. when Canvas Artistry bar closed and customers began spilling out of the bar.

Garza’s brother, Jerry Williams, testified Tuesday 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, One Central Avenue.

As customers were leaving the bar, Williams said he saw a group of men beating a man lying on the ground and intervened to help the man. Garza came to his brother’s assistance when the men turned their anger on Williams and began punching him, he testified.

Prosecutors alleged that Martinez was among the group of men who took part in the beating.

Jurors also viewed cellphone and security video that showed a portion of the chaotic brawl that moved from the bar entrance to the top level of an adjoining parking garage.

Gilbert told jurors that Martinez and two friends drove up to the top level of the parking structure in a maroon Jeep and pulled up beside Garza, Williams and others.

Martinez then opened fire, striking Garza four times, and endangering others milling in the area, Gilbert said. Other gunshots penetrated the wall of the Canvas Artistry bar.