Who is Jasmine Martinez? FL woman used pandemic loan to hire hitman to murder rival
Miami-Dade Police have announced the arrest of three people in connection to the shooting of 24-year-old Le'Shonte Jones, who was killed in broad daylight on May 3, 2021. Shockingly, the person behind the shooting, Jasmine Martinez reportedly used pandemic relief funds to hire a hitman to kill Jones, police said on February 16, 2022.
We've seen some truly shocking uses of relief funds since they began to be handed out by the federal government in 2020. In September 2021, rapper Mo Fayne was sentenced for using PPP funds to repay his many debts. In April, pastor Rudolph Brooks Jr. was caught using the funds to buy 39 cars, including a Tesla. Similarly in June 2020, David Hines also from Miami-Dade used PPP funds to buy a Lamborghini.
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In fact, the situation is more common than you'd expect. In August 2021, The New York Times estimated at least 15% (around $76 billion) of all the loans handed out under the PPP could be fraudulent. In most cases, people used the funds to pay off debts like Fayne, or simply enrich themselves. However, Martinez clearly had other priorities and used the funds to go after Jones.
Who is Jasmine Martinez?
Despite the extremely bizarre nature of the incident, little is known about Martinez. Reportedly, she owns a beauty salon of which she is the sole owner and employee. Using the firm, Martinez was able to obtain a $15,000 loan under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Of that, she spurlged over $10,000 to hire 29-year-old Javon Carter to shoot Jones. It's not clear at the moment if Martinez owns the salon, but what we do know is that she has a history of violence and a criminal record as well.
Police say Martinez and Jones, who is a TSA employee at Miami International Airport, have a long-running feud dating back to April 2016. Martinez was first arrested that year for striking Jones, who was dating Martinez's ex-boyfriend. The case was eventually dropped, but it was only the start. In 2018, she was arrested again for beating up Jones. Then in February 2020, after a court hearing on the matter, Martinez's boyfriend at the time attacked Jones in the parking lot of Miami’s criminal courthouse.
Since then, Martinez has reportedly been on a "campaign to threaten and intimidate Jones", which concluded with the murder of the young mother in May 2021. "The plan was hatched through jail phone calls, some of which were recorded and used as key evidence," The Miami Herald reported. Reportedly, Martinez was talking to her boyfriend, Kelly Nelson, who is serving time for armed robbery.
Nelson has not been accused of taking part in Jones' murder, but Martinez did once tell him she was "ready to go kill this ho." On April 30, 2021, Martinez received the loan from the federal government. Two weeks later, Carter ran up to Jones on the street and shot her, as well as Jones' 3-year-old daughter. It is believed Martinez conspired to kill Jones with the help of Romiel Robinson, with who she was also in a romantic relationship.
Now, Martinez, Robinson, and Carter are all facing charges of murder. The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office is reportedly planning to seek grand jury indictments for first-degree murder, which means all three face a possible deaths sentence if convicted. A lawyer for Martinez has rebuffed the claims, saying his client "has always denied any involvement in this tragedy."