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SALT LAKE CITY — Four generations of women stood before a judge on Thursday to talk about how the loss of their grandson, son, partner and father — Austin Powell — has impacted them. They asked for the man found guilty of his murder to be given the maximum sentence.
Powell's mother, Nicole Ortega, said she has "broken heart syndrome." She said she has lost everything — her only son was her best friend. She said he was "all I had in this whole world." He used to make her laugh "so hard."
Ortega spoke at the sentencing for Daniel Martinez, a man who found guilty in a jury trial of shooting and killing two men, one of them his own cousin, outside of a party at a Draper Airbnb on April 3, 2022.
"I hope you know the gravity of what you've taken from us," Ortega told him.
The sentence
Martinez, 20, was given two sentences of 25 years to life in prison for two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony. Third District Judge Linda Jones ordered the sentences to run consecutively.
His attorney, Rudy Bautista, said Daniel Martinez understands and accepts the conviction from the jury, although he testified at the trial that he acted in self-defense.
"He hopes that everyone can move forward in their life and find happiness the best they can," Bautista said about his client.
When given the chance to speak, Daniel Martinez apologized to the families.
"If I could go back and change things, I would. But unfortunately, that's not how reality works," he said.
Bautista asked the judge to run the sentences concurrent; he said the evidence shows although Martinez intended to shoot the gun, it does not show he intended to shoot at two people.
Deputy Salt Lake County attorney Adrianna Davis, however, said with him skipping, dancing, holding the gun sideways and shooting into groups of people, the crime is more serious. She asked for consecutive sentences, as did members of Powell's family.
"The potential danger of this act was immense. ... I don't think you can get a more, a greater disregard (for life)," she said.
'The only way I can feel safe'
Elizabeth Grace Powell said she misses her father every day. She said he already missed two birthdays and her first basketball games — something they shared a love for.
"Please give him prison for the rest of his life; it's the only way I can feel safe in this world," she said about Martinez.
She said her dad was murdered just because he asked someone to stop throwing glass bottles at his car.
Her mother, Madison Grace Dohring, said she notices families as she is out and wants to encourage them to not take moments for granted, thinking that someone could take that away from them so quickly.
She said she had dreams and plans for their small family that she has been forced to change now that her partner is gone. Now, she is left financially caring for their daughter on her own.
"I can't ever give her a father again. I can't give her everything we planned to have," Dohring said.
Dohring's mother, Elizabeth Robinson, spoke about setting the table on holidays and wondering whether to set a spot for Powell.
"It just stabs a knife in your heart — it's like you cannot ever just move on from anything because it's left such a gashing hole," she said.
Shelley Powell, Powell's grandmother, spoke about helping raise him and said he was also her mother's "little boy." She said she could see her grandson asking someone to stop throwing glass bottles — it's something she would do as well.
"I feel that justice has to be served here. I see no remorse in Mr. Martinez's face or in his actions. He willfully and intentionally got the gun and just started firing, and he was celebrating. He was celebrating when two people were murdered," she said.
'We all lost someone'
Jonathan Fuentes, 21, the other victim of the shooting, was also a father of a young child.
His mother, Vicky Martinez, said it was hard for her to be at the sentencing since her son is on one side of the case, and her nephew is on the other. She said she knows Daniel Martinez didn't want to kill anyone — she said she had worked with him for months and would not consider him dangerous.
She said she believes he was intoxicated.
"I understand all the families because we are in pain; we all lost someone. I lost my son — I lost my best friend and my other part of me. I'm losing my nephew too," Vicky Martinez said.
She asked for opportunity for her nephew, saying he has a mother too who is also in pain.
Vicky Martinez told Daniel Martinez that her son would always root for him, as his younger cousin, and wanted him to succeed.
'Unimaginable' damage
Jones told Daniel Martinez before sentencing that his actions created "unimaginable" collateral damage. She said although he claimed he fired in self-defense, his story had changed.
She said the jury saw his actions correctly as an "unnecessary horrific act of violence against a stranger," one where his cousin was also in the "line of fire."
"Given your actions that evening, 10 shots, 10 shots fired in a crowd, it's a miracle more people weren't killed or injured," she said.
She said the sentences will run consecutively because of the gravity of the circumstance of the crime and how many people were in danger.
Ashtyn Ernesto Ortega, of Herriman, passed his gun to Daniel Martinez, allowing him to fire the shots. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony; and felony discharge of a firearm, a first-degree felony.
He was sentenced by Jones in May to one to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter charge and a term of five years to life in prison for the other charge, with both sentences running concurrently.
