Surveillance footage taken on July 27 inside a local newspaper warehouse in Metairie, Louisiana supports the police report that Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office Deputy David Dalton fatally shot Devon Martes, 17, six times after the teenager pointed a 9mm pistol at him.
Alesia Martes, the teenager’s mother, has now lost two of her 11 children to gun violence.
“He put himself in that situation,” she said of Martes’ shooting. “He put himself in harm’s way.”
According to nola.com, Martes lost a 22 year-old son to street violence in 2008.
“Devon took Brandon’s death real hard,” Martes said. “But he loved them streets. I said, ‘Devon, you have to stop being out there. Don’t you see what happened to your brother? Didn’t this wake y’all up?’ But he was hardheaded.”
Sheriff Newell Normand listed Devon Martes’ criminal record at a press conference following the shooting. It includes shoplifting, distribution of drugs, trespassing, and attempted armed robbery.
Alesia Martes said she doesn’t blame the officer for shooting her son, instead she expressed frustration toward her son’s refusal to get off the streets despite his parents providing for him.
“He had brand new tennis shoes he never put on,” Martes said. “There’s no reason for [him] to do this. [He’s] got a momma and a dad. That’s one blessing right there… We work, we come home and we take care of them.”
“Devon was a really kind person but he just got himself caught up in too much stuff,” Martes concluded.