STOCKTON, Calif. — It's been just over a week since Aurora Martinez was forced to do the unimaginable: bury her younger 20-year-old brother, Gabriel Martinez.
"Even though he was my younger brother, now I look up to him a lot. He's just like one of the best ones," Aurora said sitting just feet away from where a shrine now stands in her home commemorating Gabriel's short life. "It's still hard, really hard for all of us."
More than a week after the funeral and nearly three weeks since the hit-and-run crash took Gabriel's life, the thought of his smile no longer lighting up rooms or making the tough days more bearable is a hard reality to accept for Aurora and others who knew the athlete and family man.
According to California Highway Patrol, Gabriel was outside of his car on Sept. 18 when he was hit and killed by a black 2016 or newer Chevy Camaro on State Route 26 near Pinasco Road between Stockton and Linden.
The driver of the Camaro drove away from the scene around 4:37 a.m., CHP officials said. Three weeks after the crash, the driver of the car has yet to be identified and the case remains unsolved.
"I remember just waking up Sunday morning and I heard my mom just scream, 'What?' And I knew right away there was something wrong," said Gabriel's cousin, Alexis Alfaro. "I didn't want to believe it. I just kept saying, "It's not him, it's not him, like, why would it be him?' Like this kid didn't do anything wrong, like who would do this to him?"
Family members believe Gabriel was involved in a single-car accident shortly before being hit and killed. They say he was trying to flag down help at the time after attempting to ring doorbells in the neighborhood.
"We don't understand how does someone do this and walk away? Or how do they get up every day and how do they continue to live their life knowing that they did this," said Alfaro.
Aurora describes every day waiting for answers and justice in her brother's case as an eternity.
"I'm running out of patience. It's like... who in their right mind could do this and just walk away and not say anything, not even stay there with him?" Aurora questioned. "We want to know, we just want answers. You know, we just want updates, we want to know what's going on and we haven't really gotten anything."
As Aurora and her family search for answers, they are also focusing on remembering Gabriel's life and the joy he could always naturally bring.
"His smile would light up the room and we always joked with him that for a kid that never talked a lot, when he did talk it was always something funny or sarcastic," Alfaro said. "These past few weeks have actually shown how much of a lovable kid he was and how good of a kid because so many people that we didn't expect, showed up (to his funeral)."
Among the hundreds who traveled to pay their respects to the beloved Linden High School graduate last week was Eduardo Sanchez, one of Gabriel's former youth soccer coaches.
He remembered Gabriel as a standout on and off the soccer field even after his years of playing on the varsity team at Linden High School ended.
"Every once in a while the boys would play against each other at the same tournaments and we would see him," Sanchez said. "Always such a good kid and I was so happy to see him still loving the game."
Loving the game of soccer and loving life is how family and friends choose to remember Gabriel. They say that in addition to calling for justice and answers in the case, they will continue to look at pictures of him and remember his bright smile and shining personality.
"That kid was just taking his life day by day. Whatever came or whatever he felt like doing-- that's what he would pursue," Alfaro said. "He was always happy. You can't bring him down, you can't bring his spirits down, he was always just a funny kid. I mean, it didn't matter what we were doing, he always had that big old smile."
Those with information in the case can call CHP investigators at 209-938-4800.
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