Law and order continues to spiral out of control in Biden’s America. On Wednesday, a trial began for a grandfather accused of beating his own grandson to death with a sledgehammer in Milwaukee.
Andrez D Martina, 53, allegedly beat 12-year-old Andre Smith to death with a mallet, sledgehammer, two belts, a coat rack and a cane in a prolonged, merciless attack because he thought the boy had been stealing money from his wallet, reports Fox.
The grandfather had been hosting a sleep-over for his two grandsons, aged 12 and 8, who had travelled from Indiana to stay at his home on 46th street on Milwaukee’s north side.
When the man woke in the middle of the night on Saturday and believed some money was missing from his wallet, he began to attack the two children after accusing them of stealing money.
The attack was witnessed by the children’s great-grandmother who is disabled and was unable to intervene. She recounted the incident to the police, explaining that Martina had begun to assault both children, with the younger boy suffering a broken finger and bruising, but his attention predominantly turned to the eldest, Andre.
Andre had made at least two attempts to escape the thrashing. At one point he managed to run out of the house, but was dragged back in again by a raging Martina. The boy also locked himself in a bathroom, but his grandfather had been able to pick the lock and continue the beating.
Cold, callous Martina waited until the next day to send a text message to the boy’s grandmother Illysha McCroy to say that Andre had been “stealing”. When he was asked where the child was, he merely replied that he was “hurt”, prompting McCroy to rush to the house. Andre was taken to Wisconsin Children’s Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
During police interviews, Martina admitted to killing the child and said that he had warned his grandchildren in the past: “If you lie, if you mess up in school, if you steal, I’m going to kill you.”
Martina told cops he had lost control while beating the boy and said that he had been drinking earlier in the evening and was “blacking out” during the attack.
In court on Wednesday, he testified that Andre had stolen $1000 from his wallet and had then threatened him with a gun when he asked him where the money was.
“Well, once I grabbed the gun from him, and he hit the wall, everything went lights out,” testified Martina.
Andre’s grandmother Illysha McCroy said that Andre had experienced a traumatic childhood and had been responding well to therapy and counselling for around a year prior to the attack which led to his death.
She said he was showing good progress and remembered his “infectious smile”.
“I was gradually getting him back to trying to be a kid. He was that light in a dark place, even though he had a rough childhood. He was just bright. I don’t see how people can harm kids … but especially not Andre. That smile he had was so infectious.”
Martina waived his right to a trail by jury and so a verdict will be decided by a judge in March.
This story syndicated with permission from For the Love of News
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