Hillcrest Heights woman committed after mother's death
Judge orders mental evaluation after outbursts in front of District Court judge
A Prince George's County District Court judge sent a Hillcrest Heights woman charged with her mother's murder to be hospitalized for a mental evaluation after an outburst in court Tuesday.
Latoya Aiesha Martin, 28, of 3952 26th Ave., was arrested and charged March 25 with first-degree murder and first-degree assault in connection with the death of her mother, Sheila Martin, 53, of the same address.
On Tuesday morning, Latoya Martin was scheduled to appear in court before Judge Patrice E. Lewis, who was to decide if Martin would undergo a mental evaluation. Court clerks said Martin had to be moved from a holding area in the courtroom after she began having outbursts. When she was in front of Lewis, she began screaming, which prompted the judge to order Martin committed to the Clifton T. Perkins Hospital Center in Jessup for a mental evaluation.
Martin was being held at the Prince George's County Department of Corrections in Upper Marlboro over the weekend. According to charging documents filed in District Court, police responded to Martin's home for a welfare check at approximately 11:35 a.m. March 25. When police arrived, they found Latoya Martin sitting in the home's driveway wearing a white T-shirt with blood stains in it.
According to the documents, when police asked Martin what had happened, she repeated, "Lord Jesus, forgive me." She then told police that she "had slayed the demon."
According to the documents, police then entered Martin's home and found Sheila Martin laying face down in the home's foyer, where police found blood, hair fibers and a tooth. She had sustained blunt force trauma to her face and head and was pronounced dead on the scene. Latoya Martin then allegedly told police she beat her mother to death.
Police initially thought Sheila Martin had been stabbed to death but now are waiting for the state medical examiner's office's report on the cause of death, said Cpl. Mike Rodriquez, a spokesman for the Prince George's County Police Department.
Rodriquez said the homicide likely stemmed from a domestic dispute, but police are unsure what initiated the incident.
No attorney was listed Tuesday for Martin in District Court.
E-mail Joshua Garner at jgarner@gazette.net.
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