Martinez moves toward pretrial decision in murder case

Marcos Jerrell Martinez, accused of murdering his grandmother in Maricopa, may be moving toward a resolution of the case.

Martinez has been under the eye of Pinal County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Wharton in Mental Health Court since he was found not competent to stand trial but has also at times been before Judge Jason Holmberg and three other judges in regular criminal court while being restored to competency. Wednesday, defense attorney Jaime Ramirez said a pretrial hearing set for December could bring a change of plea or at least a decision on seeking a jury trial or a bench trial.

Martinez was arrested in 2018 in Chandler on charges of killing Vicky Ten Hoven, 62, in her house in Rancho El Dorado. Cause of death was determined to be blunt-force trauma, though she was also stabbed several times.

He was initially found incompetent to stand trial and spent more than a year working with physicians to be restored to competency. He faces a single charge of first-degree murder.

Prosecutor William Wallace asked Wharton to allow attorney Kathryn Fuller an endorsement to represent next of kin as a victims advocate in the case. Wharton complied but shot down the notion of allowing Fuller to participate by phone.

The next court appearance for Martinez was set for Dec. 18.