Georgia Mom Accused of Fatally Stabbing Husband, Kids Told Surviving Daughter She Was Going 'to See Jesus'
The 9-year-old lone survivor of a Georgia knife attack that killed her four siblings and her father alleged to child welfare workers that her mother asked for forgiveness before cutting her and said the girl was “going to the sky to see Jesus,” PEOPLE confirms.
A report from the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services, obtained by PEOPLE, alleges that Diana Romero — 33-year-old Isabel Martinez’s only child to survive the woman’s alleged July 6 attack against her husband and children — cried when her mother said this.
She told her mother she did not want to see Jesus, the document states.
The entire family was asleep when Martinez began stabbing her children, the report alleges. Martinez has been charged with murder and aggravated assault in the death of her husband, Martin Romero, and four of their kids.
The report says Diana was carried into her parent’s bedroom after she allegedly was cut by Martinez. Romero, 33, awoke, saw what had happened, and tried to get help but Martinez allegedly killed him. The little girl told caseworkers Martinez was not crying or screaming as she allegedly stabbed her family.
The report also alleges she cut herself before calling 911 to report the killings.
Caseworkers also interviewed Martinez: According to the documents, Martinez said she is being framed and that the real killer is a family friend who regularly visits the home, but Martinez repeatedly refused to name the family friend.
She placed all of the bodies in the same room before police came “so everyone could be together,” she said, according to the report.
Investigators allege Martinez killed Romero along with Isabela Martinez, 10; Dacota Romero, 7; Dillan Romero, 4; and 2-year-old Axel Romero.
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Martinez has not yet entered a plea to the charges against her — five counts of murder and malice murder along with six counts of aggravated assault.
Martinez’s attorney, Robert Greenwald, filed a motion seeking a psychological evaluation for his client as well as a motion for a continuance of her preliminary hearing.
At a court date shortly after the killings, Martinez drew the ire of a Gwinnett County judge on Friday after smiling and giving a thumbs-up. Video footage of the hearing showed Martinez kneeling theatrically in front of a camera and apparently gesturing for photographers.
“I have concerns about her ability to comprehend the nature of what’s going on,” Greenwald tells PEOPLE. “The nature of the legal proceedings pending against her, I have concerns that she just doesn’t get it.”
He expects to have his motion granted soon. He would not discuss the Division of Family and Children Services report.
PEOPLE has been unable to reach Romero’s relatives.
The Division of Family and Children Services documents further allege a caseworker investigated the family in 2015 following allegations Romero had used a belt and a phone charger cord to discipline his children when they wouldn’t go to sleep.
Both parents acknowledged sometimes using physical discipline, the report claims, but the agency determined the children were not in imminent danger.
A GoFundMe page has been set up on Diana’s behalf.
