PAGE A8, KEIZERTIMES, JULY 31, 2015
DETAILS,
continued from Page A1
Prior to a second inter-
view, Nelson said two candles
were found intact on the
shelf, not broken. During the
second interview, Nelson said
Sosa-Martinez admitted she
“was intimate” with Cruz in
her bedroom for about 20
minutes that morning.
Another detective talked
to Cruz and discovered he
had stayed overnight and
smoked marijuana with Sosa-
Martinez. After a while, she
changed her story again.
“She then admitted to
smoking marijuana at about
10 a.m. when Cruz blew
smoke into her lungs,” Nel-
son said. “Shortly after that,
she decided to go to bed.
She took a shower fi rst. Her
son was in the living room
watching cartoons. She sat
on the bed and took another
hit of marijuana. What she
described was the precise lo-
cation where the fi re depart-
ment said the fi re had started.
“She said she woke up and
realized her bed was on fi re,”
Nelson added. “Her son was
at the end of the bed with a
roll of toilet paper. She
was very confused. She
tried to put the fi re out
with a pot. She said An-
dre was still standing in
the apartment near the
kitchen.”
According to Nel-
son, Sosa-Martinez once
again stated she tried to
get the burning mattress
out of the apartment but
couldn’t.
“I asked at that time
isfshe had the opportu-
nity to go back in and grab
her son,” Nelson recalled.
“She said she did. She didn’t
know why she didn’t grab
him. She was nervous about
what was going to happen
(to her due to the proba-
tion).”
Another detail from the
sentencing was about a fi re at
the Sosa-Martinez residence
in April 2013 in Salem. It was
reported there was a mattress
fi re and Sosa-Martinez did
not answer the door when
fi refi ghters tried to make her
aware of the situation.
Rebecca Fischer, a De-
partment of Human Services
employee, reported making
contact with Sosa-Martinez
that day.
“She denied all drug use,”
“Any reasonable
parent would have
grabbed Andre
by the hand and
ran out as fast as
she could.”
We’ll transform your kitchen
or bath into what you’ve
always dreamed of
— Bryan Orrio
Deputy district attorney
Fischer said. “She said she was
drug free. She admitted to us-
ing marijuana when she was
16. She said she had last used
it in September 2008.”
Fischer said the two chil-
dren were not taken into
protective custody and it was
recommended
Sosa-Mar-
tinez taking parenting and
counseling classes.
“Later we found out she
did not do those classes,”
Fischer said.
Laird Case, deputy fi re
marshal with the Salem
Fire Department, said when
there’s a suspicion children
are involved with a fi re, par-
ents are contacted to instigate
screening to determine what
type of intervention to take.
Case said he left three
messages for Sosa-Martinez
but could not reach her.
Darcy Lee Hubert with the
Marion County Sheriff ’s Of-
fi ce said Sosa-Martinez failed
to do the required amount of
community service and twice
tested positive for marijuana,
even though she was on pro-
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Pamela Moffett, Niya Sosa-Martinez’s mother, addresses the
court in a sentencing hearing July 22.
bation and told authorities
she was not using drugs.
“She admitted she had not
been truthful about her drug
use,” Hubert said of an April
2013 meeting.
Hubert noted Sosa-Mar-
tinez was arrested the next
month for possession of mar-
ijuana.
At one point, deputy dis-
trict attorney Katie Suver
showed a powerpoint pre-
sentation with pictures from
last fall’s fatal apartment fi re.
In addition to fi re damage,
the pictures also showed burn
marks on the fl oor and a
photo of the scene with An-
dre’s body outlined.
Andre’s aunt, listening to
the sentencing via phone,
described how Andre’s older
sister has been coping.
“She’s doing well, but you
can see the pain,” the aunt
said. “She feels really sad.”
Deputy district attorney
Bryan Orrio said Sosa-Mar-
tinez had displayed a pattern
of not being deterred from
her behavior, even when
faced with sanctions.
“Any reasonable parent
would have grabbed Andre
by the hand and ran out as
fast as she could,” Orrio said.
“But she was worried about
her own self. She left Andre
in a burning building to die.
If the sanctions had deterred
her, Andre would still be alive.
If she had complied with
court orders, Andre would
still be alive.”
Based on that, Orrio asked
for the maximum sentence of
150 months.
Before defense attorney
Ron Gray spoke, he yielded
the fl oor to Sosa-Martinez’s
mom, Pamela Moffett.
“She always made sure
(her children) knew she loved
them very much,” Moffett
said of her daughter.
Longtime friend Elizabeth
Hawkins also spoke highly of
Sosa-Martinez.
“She made bad choices,
but that doesn’t mean she
was a bad mother,” Hawkins
said. “I want to make it clear
that despite the mistake she
made, she was and always will
be, in my eyes, a great mom.
I always looked up to her and
admired her. She was a good
person and still is a good per-
son.”
Gray asked for the mini-
mum time, arguing that
adding 30 months wouldn’t
change the impact on Sosa-
Martinez.
“What purpose does it
serve? She’s not a danger to
society,” Gray said. “She will
live with it long beyond any
sentence you may impose.”
Sosa-Martinez told judge
Geyer she did take responsi-
bility, then turned to address
her family.
“I’m sorry for everything,”
she said tearfully. “I’m sorry
for all the pain you’ve gone
through. I thank you for all
of your love and support.
Most importantly, thank you
for loving and supporting my
daughter and being there for
her. I love you and I’m so
thankful to have family that
loves me and is there for me.”
Geyer told Sosa-Martinez
he wasn’t 100 percent sure
which stories were accurate,
since she gave several differ-
ent accounts.
“You made a whole bunch
of bad decisions,” Geyer said.
“That’s how you ended up
being charged appropriately
with manslaughter. I am con-
vinced that based on what
I know that this crime, this
death happened in part by
you trying to hide from sanc-
tions.”
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