Man convicted in gang killing may be released

PASCO – A man convicted of second-degree murder in the gang-related shooting of a teenager in an alley could be released this week now that his conviction has been reduced to assault.

Elijah Jacob Martinez, 27, of Pasco, who always maintained he was innocent in the death of Lalo Gamboa, 15, smiled at relatives with the decision Tuesday in Franklin County Superior Court.

Gamboa was shot while riding his bicycle down an alley during a turf war between rival youth gangs in 1995.

Martinez, convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree assault with a firearm enhancement, was sentenced the next year to 23 years and four months in prison, but the murder conviction was overturned under state Supreme Court rulings in 2002 and earlier this year.

The two rulings invalidated second-degree murder convictions based on assault without a proven intent to kill dating back to 1976.

Judge Craig J. Matheson ordered on Tuesday that Martinez’s prison term be cut to seven years and two months for the assault conviction, less than the nine years he already has spent behind bars, plus a year on probation.