GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A 16-year-old boy found dead in the backyard of a Lawrenceville home is the fifth Gwinnett County teen to be found dead in just weeks.
Gwinnett Police identified the victim Thursday night as Jose Daniel Martinez. The teen was reported missing by his family on Wednesday morning. Police said the home on Paden Mill Trail where he was found dead is unoccupied.
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Homicide detectives canvassed the area and were able to develop leads that lead to the arrest of Dennis Calzadilla, 20, of Lilburn in connection to Martinez’s death.
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Martinez is the fifth Hispanic Gwinnett County teen to be found dead in just a matter of weeks.
The skeletal remains of missing 16-year-old Susana Morales were found in Feb., eight months after she vanished while walking home. Police arrested a former Doraville police officer in her death.
On Feb. 9, 17-year-old Rodrigo Floriano was found dead in an abandoned home in Tucker. His death is thought to be from an overdose.
On Feb. 14, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed in front of his father outside the family’s home in Norcross. Police identified the victim as Jaeden Travis.
The father told Channel 2 Action News that his son had problems with another teen for the last few months and that a when a group of teens showed up outside the house, Travis ran outside with a BB gun. The killer had a real gun.
“When I saw him running, I came out the house running. By the time I got in the middle of the street, pop, pop, pop, my son went down and said dad I’m shot,” Travis said.
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On Feb. 24, 17-year-old Julia Zirangua died. Her sister said in a GoFundMe set up to help with her funeral expenses that Zirangua was “taken from us.”
Zirangua died from a Fentanyl overdose after she bought what she thought was a Percocet. Two people were arrested in her death this week.
Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes was in Gwinnett County Thursday, where Martinez is one of several Hispanic teens killed in Gwinnett County just in the last month. A group planned to meet next Thursday night to address concerns in community about teens’ safety.
Police said false information is spreading on social media and they want to clear things up face-to-face.
Tannia Zarate is the co-founder of the Hispanic United Alliance in Gwinnett County. She said it’s been one tragedy after another in her community over the last four weeks.
“Everybody is frustrated and angry and upset, you know?” Zarate said. “Every day it seems like another death, so we ask for prayer in our community because we need it.”
Zarate said many Hispanic families are frustrated because there’s a language barrier and lack of trust with police.
Police are hosting a town hall at a Hispanic church next week to give families an opportunity to ask questions directly to Spanish-speaking officers. Although police can’t answer specific questions about ongoing cases, the can clear up some confusion and hopefully build some trust.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Gwinnett Police.
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