Man who shot and killed woman over gas money sentenced to life in prison
By James Felton and Emily Brown
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GENESEE County, Michigan (WNEM) — A grieving family has lived 889 days without their loved one, the victim of what prosecutors call a senseless murder.
Denzel Williams-Boyd, 20, learned on Dec. 19 how long he’ll spend behind bars for killing Martina Martinez over $10 in gas money on July 13, 2020.
TV5 was in the courtroom as they gave him his sentencing.
“You have took a daughter, a sister, a niece, and an aunt, and a cousin, and a best friend,” Martinez’s sister addressed the person that killed her loved one in court.
Williams-Boyd was convicted of killing the 19-year-old and today he was sentenced for the crime.
“My mother will wake up every day wishing she had her child back. I will go to call for her an event of my life that I would like to share with her, but I will be unable to,” her sister said.
Prosecutors say Williams-Boyd met up with Martinez and her friend at a bonfire and then later drove them to the Torrey Hills mobile home park in Flint. Along the way, he asked her for $10 for gas money and she said she didn’t have it. When she got out of the vehicle and sat on the steps of her mobile home, Williams-Boyd shot her to death.
“Even in prison, he’s allowed to laugh. He can make memories. And he can have his family visit. While my sister is reduced to a bottle of ash around my neck,” her sister said.
Williams-Boyd addressed the grieving family in court.
“There’s nothing that can take away the memory of the things that happened altogether. And I just want to address everyone around that I am sorry for what happened,” he said.
His words meant nothing to the family. Martinez’s sister said she did not forgive him and that he has shown no remorse for his actions.
“[He] has hidden behind a façade of being an unfortunate, uneducated man from Flint who made a mistake,” she said. “Coming from a woman born in Flint with little education who went on to make something of herself, instead of hurting families, I do not forgive you. I wish nothing but the absence of peace for you.”
Williams-Boyd was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The Martinez family told the court they wanted to thank everyone who supported them during the hardest time of their lives.
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