A Gainesville woman charged with felony murder was granted a $50,000 bond Wednesday, while her husband had his preliminary hearing moved to next month.
Juan Martinez, 31, and Nancy Martinez, 32, were each charged with felony murder and first-degree child cruelty in October in the death of 2-year-old Valeria Jordan Garfias.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said the couple were taking care of the toddler while the toddler’s parents were at work.
The Martinez couple were accused of causing “traumatic brain injury and other internal injuries” to Valeria between noon and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 10, according to authorities.
A Magistrate Court hearing had been set in the case for Friday, Nov. 19, but has now been moved to mid-December.
Nancy Martinez’s defense attorney, Arturo Corso, previously told The Times there are phone and work logs showing Nancy was at work.
Superior Court Judge Bonnie Oliver signed the bond order Wednesday for Nancy Martinez, which instructs her to not have any unsupervised contact with any child under the age of 16. She must also surrender her passport, according to Oliver’s order.
Corso said Friday that “true justice is agonizingly slow.”
“As we predicted, we have established conclusively that Nancy was not even present at the scene,” Corso said in a statement. “We don't need a preliminary hearing because we solved the case. It is only fair that Nancy be released on bond immediately and the state agreed.”
Corso also said that he has “no problem giving the district attorney’s office time to independently verify our evidence with third-party phone records and witness interviews.” “That's how the system works best, when we honestly seek the facts together with an open mind,” Corso said, adding he expects the charges to be dismissed in the coming year.
Corso said they were working through the bond process and hoped to have Nancy Martinez out Friday night or Saturday morning.
Juan Martinez’s defense attorney, Andy Maddox, said he will also file a formal motion for bond, though it has not been scheduled yet. He said they were hoping to get medical information prior to the hearing.