Good Samaritan shot while attempting to stop domestic violence assault in Colorado Springs
By Sadie Buggle, Mackenzie Stafford
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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — Police say a good Samaritan was shot after intervening and trying to stop a domestic violence assault in a Colorado Springs parking lot Saturday night.
According to the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD), at 8:37 p.m. on Nov. 29, a felony domestic assault was reported in the 800 block of South Circle Drive.
A few minutes later, police learned that a gunshot victim had shown up at a local hospital, and while investigating, learned the two reports were related.
According to CSPD, the investigation revealed that the domestic violence assault happened in a parking lot on South Circle Drive. KRDO13 spoke with the woman who was reportedly assaulted. She told police she and Jovani Martinez Sanchez, the suspect who is the father of her child, were meeting so she could get her credit card back from him. She tells KRDO13 that when she realized he wasn’t going to give the card back to her, she started to walk away.
“So at that point, I turned around, closed his door, and I started walking to my car, and I felt like a bump behind me, and I turned around. That’s him with his car. He’s like trying to, like, hit me with the car,” explained Adriana Moreno.
Moreno said she had to hide behind another car, so he couldn’t hit her. But, she says, he got out of the car, and it only escalated from there.
“He, like, chokeslammed me into the van and like was just holding me for a good 30 seconds, just squeezing the life out of me. I told my whole family that I thought I was dead, and I, I, I was like, it’s game over for me right here,” recounted Moreno.
Three people witnessed the alleged assault, records say. According to arrest documents, two people intervened in an attempt to stop it, but police say the suspect, Jovani Martinez Sanchez, pulled a firearm on them.
“I’m grateful that they were there, because if they hadn’t been there, Lord knows what would have happened to me. The reason he stopped strangling me was because that guy got close,” shared Moreno.
She says she was able to escape at that time and is thankful they provided a moment of reprieve.
According to arrest documents, the good Samaritans got back into their vehicle when threatened. But according to police, Martinez Sanchez eventually still fired at them, hitting one person. The person who was shot suffered a serious but not life-threatening injury, police said.
“Now there’s somebody that’s hurt for literally no reason, like he had nothing to do with it. And now he’s [Martinez Sanchez] in jail, and now he’s [good Samaritan] in the hospital bed, and it’s all for what?” stated Moreno.
Martinez Sanchez fled the scene and was later found at his work location, Taco Bell, where police say he was arrested without incident. Officers also recovered a firearm from his possession.
Martinez Sanchez is being held in the El Paso County Jail without bond. He faced multiple charges, including attempted first-degree murder. Martinez Sanchez is innocent until proven guilty.
“It was so traumatic. I wake up, just jumping at every little noise. I’m like, oh, and it’s just so scary. But I like I can tell you guys I still love him. And I did not want it to go this way, but it had to go this way,” explained Moreno, “It was seeing my mom and my brother literally crying to me that I could have died. I was like, yeah, it’s no more. It’s not good for me anymore. It just got to a point where I can’t take any more.”
She says it’s incredibly difficult to leave after all the years they spent together, but she says it’s more important that she is there for her two kids.
“I’m not going to stay here and die in your hands and leave my kids with you. Like, I’m not going to do that. My kids mean more to me than he does,” said Moreno.
Moreno says she was trying to make the relationship work for years for her and her children, but now she’s speaking out, sharing her story for other women who may be in a similar situation.
“It’s really hard when you really love somebody, and they’re just no good to you. But obviously, you can get out of it. I got out of it finally,” shared Moreno.
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