The Cowley County Courthouse in Winfield. (Courtesy photo)
Jury selection is set for next month in the trial of a man charged with second-degree murder in the death of Ark City’s Jonathan Martinez.
Due to COVID-19 precautions, jury selection for 37-year-old Christopher Henry is to be held on Feb. 18 and 19. Opening statements will be set for Feb. 22, according to Cowley County Attorney Larry Schwartz.
The 28-year-old Martinez was shot April 3, 2020, during an incident in the 700 block of North B.
Henry has entered a not guilty plea on charges of intentional second-degree murder and criminal discharge of a firearm at an occupied vehicle. He remains in the Cowley County Jail with bond set at $500,000.
Henry’s plea came after Judge Christopher Smith denied a motion to dismiss filed by Henry’s attorney claiming the shooting was in self defense. Smith used the same information, submitted by both sides regarding the self defense motion, to make a determination as to whether to continue moving toward trial.
Police were dispatched about 12:50 p.m. April 3 to the 700 block of North B Street for a report of shots fired. Before officers arrived on the scene, the individuals involved in the incident allegedly left.
A short time later, officers located and stopped a vehicle in the 28000 block of U.S. 77 Bypass.
Police learned that one of the vehicle’s passengers, Jonathan Martinez, 28, of Arkansas City, had sustained an apparent gunshot wound to his abdomen while riding in the vehicle.
Martinez was transported by the Arkansas City Fire-EMS Department to South Central Kansas Medical Center. He was transported by air ambulance to a Wichita hospital, where he later passed away.
Henry and Martinez knew each other, and police said this was not a random shooting or “road rage.”
The Ark City Police Department was able to identify Henry as a suspect due to the teamwork and assistance of the public and several other law enforcement agencies, including the Cowley County Sheriff’s Office, Kansas Highway Patrol and Wichita Police Department.
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In other court-related news, a preliminary hearing has been set for Duentae Markham, a man charged with second-degree murder in the death of a Southwestern College student in December 2019.
The hearing is set for 9 a.m. March 19 in the Cowley County Courtroom of Judge Nick St. Peter. Markham is currently free on bond.
Markham is accused of “unintentionally but recklessly,” taking the life of 32-year-old Gabriel J. Luna, who was shot Dec. 18, 2019. at his Honors Apartment on Southwestern’s Winfield campus.
Markham has hired Wichita-based Stephen Ariagno, of the Warrior Lawyers, to serve as his defense attorney.
Luna was hospitalized in Wichita and died within a few days of the shooting. At a preliminary hearing, a judge hears evidence in a case and decides whether it is sufficient to proceed to trial.
