Five men due in court in death of Marine reservist in Pasadena

Five men are due in court Tuesday on charges related to the death of Joshua Mario Martinez, a 25-year-old Marine reservist who completed two tours of Afghanistan. Martinez died Aug. 6 after sustaining a head injury in a fight the previous day in Pasadena.

Martinez was with a group of friends at Ix Tapa, a restaurant and bar in the 100 block of East Colorado Boulevard, just before 1 a.m. on Aug. 5 when he got into an argument, Pasadena police said.

After leaving the bar with his friends, Martinez was "attacked without provocation," Pasadena Police Lt. Tracy Ibarra said. A dash cam video that surfaced a few days after the attack shows Martinez getting punched, falling and hitting his head on the curb.

Martinez was taken to Huntington Hospital, where he died of blunt-force trauma to the head, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

"You go on deployment in Afghanistan, where you know your life is in danger. You come home, you think you're safe, and next thing you know, you lose your friend in a horrible way," Luis Mario Morales, who served in Afghanistan with Martinez, told KABC-TV Channel 7 in August.

Martinez's reserve unit was based at Camp Pendleton. His tours of Afghanistan were for two months at the end of 2009 and from February to May 2010. He was the recipient of a national Defense Service Medal, an Armed Forces Reserve Medal, a Selected Marine Corps Reserve Medal, a NATO Medal-ISAF Afghanistan, an Afghanistan Campaign Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

Since the fight, five men have been charged with one count each of assault with a deadly weapon. Jonas Cardenas Ramos, 25, of San Gabriel; Angel Christopher Moroyoqui, 21, of El Monte; Jonathan Pierce Aquino, 24, of El Monte; Timothy Scott Coley, 23, of West Covina; and Fernando Sabino Ramirez, 25, of Rowland Heights have pleaded not guilty. Fernando Sabino Ramirez, who has also been charged with involuntary manslaughter, admitted to detectives his role in the incident, according to a Pasadena police news release.

All five men are due in court in Pasadena on Dec. 10 for a preliminary hearing.

-- Soumya Karlamangla