Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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(11-16) 19:19 PST OAKLAND --
The parolee suspected of killing an Oakland woman and possibly her young child was arrested twice in 2008 for allegedly violating a restraining order obtained by a previous girlfriend who said he had beaten her and threatened her 13-year-old son, court records show.
Alameda County prosecutors, however, never brought charges against Curtis Martin III, 38, who had already served five years in state prison for beating a child to death, the records show.
Martin's previous girlfriend obtained her restraining order in September 2008, 10 months after she said Martin had choked and stomped on her because he found messages from another man on her cell phone.
She was taken to a hospital for treatment of facial injuries and bruised ribs and had choke marks around her neck, the woman said in her application for a restraining order in Alameda County Superior Court. The Chronicle is not naming her because she fears for her safety.
After the attack, the woman gave a statement to Oakland police and was photographed from her hospital bed, but supplied a fake name for Martin, an officer said in a police report. As a result, investigators were unable to track Martin and never built a case against him.
The woman later admitted to police that she had lied but explained that she was scared because Martin had threatened to hurt her if she ever went to police.
ext door to victim
The woman sped away in her car from reporters Monday outside her former West Oakland home, which is next door to the home of Zoelina Williams, 23. Williams, who had been in a relationship with Martin in recent months, was found beaten and shot to death early Friday at Aquatic Park in Berkeley.
Just 10 minutes before finding Williams' body, Berkeley police Officer Darren Kacalek was on routine patrol in the park when he came upon Martin, who was wearing rubber gloves and protective booties over his shoes, possibly to avoid leaving his DNA, sources close to the investigation said.
Kacalek checked his identification, warned him the park was closed and sent him on his way, police said. But as Martin drove away in his van, the tires ran over what the officer thought was a stick. It turned out to be a rifle, and Kacalek then saw drag marks that led from the van to Williams' body, sources said.
Martin was arrested later Friday.
On Sunday, kayakers found a child's body floating in the water off the nearby Berkeley Marina. Relatives fear it was that of Williams' 17-month-old son, Jashon. The Alameda County coroner is trying to confirm the child's identity and determine the cause of death.
amily angry
Martin is being held without bail at Berkeley City Jail and could be charged today with Zoelina Williams' murder. He has declined media requests for interviews.
"We're all flabbergasted that this happened," Zoelina Williams' brother, Karim Toney, 28, said Monday. "We didn't know the history of this guy. It's terrible. He shouldn't have been out."
Martin pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter for the February 1994 beating death in Oakland of 3-year-old Devin Brewer, the son of his then-girlfriend. Devin died of blunt trauma to the head, according to his death certificate.
Martin, who by then had served a short stint in state prison for possessing an assault weapon, was sentenced to 11 years for killing Devin but was released in a little more than five years. He has since been sent back to prison numerous times for parole violations, state records show.
epeated threats
Despite the December 2007 incident, Martin and his then-girlfriend soon resumed their tumultuous relationship.
During one argument in August 2008, Martin became angry because she let a homeless friend live in their garage, she said. He knocked her family pictures off her wall and told her that if her 13-year-old son "was of age, I would hurt him," she wrote in her request for a restraining order.
The woman said Martin was "often paranoid" and had "mental issues." She quoted him as saying he was "mad because everyone takes up my time," according to the court records.
Martin was arrested for allegedly violating the restraining order Sept. 11, 2008, after the woman walked past his Chestnut Street home in West Oakland with another man.
"I don't give a f- about a restraining order," Martin told her, she wrote in court papers. "I'll get a chopper and turn you into Swiss cheese."
After bailing out the next day, Martin told a mutual acquaintance, "You tell that bitch I'm out," the woman said in court papers. He was arrested again for contacting her through a third party, authorities said.
Court records confirmed that Martin was arrested but never prosecuted in the incidents last year.
Tom Rogers, an Alameda County assistant district attorney, said he did not have details as to why prosecutors never brought a case in either arrest.
E-mail Henry K. Lee at hlee@sfchronicle.com.
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