Oct 11, 2024
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) – Mistaken identity has left two people dead and one woman behind bars after a shooting. Police were called to a gas station on the west side of Sioux Falls just before 10 Thursday night. Police said it all started with an assault in northwest Sioux Falls. A 23-year-old man showed up at his parents' house on North Daisy Avenue and told them he'd been assaulted. Court documents say someone told them the people who'd assaulted him were near 41st Street and South Sertoma Avenue, about four miles from the home. The 23-year-old, his father and younger sibling got into an SUV, and his mom followed in a car. How Call to Freedom is helping prevent sextortion in SF When the family arrived at the gas station, they found a group of motorcycles. Court documents say the 23-year-old, his 44-year-old father and 14-year-old sibling got out of their SUV with bats. A motorcyclist at the gas station told police they "began hitting nearby motorcycles" with bats. The motorcyclist told police as he was speaking to the 44-year-old man, the 23-year-old approached him "from behind and swung his bat towards" his head. At that point, the motorcyclist claims he "fired his gun" in "self-defense," hitting the 23-year-old in the chest. "Almost immediately after that, the 44-year-old man swung a bat at the head of the motorcyclist. He then pointed the gun, fired the gun at the 44-year-old and struck him several times," Clemens said. Court documents say the 44-year-old man had four gunshot wounds to his back. The motorcyclist again told police it was self-defense. "Right after that happened, the motorcyclist then noticed that the woman was pointing a gun at him," Clemens said. That woman was Darinda Martinez, the wife and the mother of the men the motorcyclist just shot. She told police the motorcyclist began shooting at her, so she attempted to return fire, but the gun malfunctioned. "He fired at that woman. She was struck in the arm," Clemens said. That's when police arrived at the gas station. "At this point, the 26-year-old motorcyclist has not been arrested or charged with anything. Once the investigation is done, the state's attorney's office will review that to determine if there's any charges," Clemens said. However, Martinez is charged with felony assault. When she appeared in court Friday afternoon, just hours after her husband's and son's deaths, her attorney told the judge she too was acting in self-defense. Through the investigation, police have confirmed that the men at the gas station were not the same men involved in the original assault. "It was really, they misidentified the suspects. That's really what kicked off this event, the shooting," Clemens said. The prosecutor asked for Martinez to be held on a $750,000 cash bond. The judge decided to lower it to $50,000 cash only.
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