Junny Rio-Martinez, age 11
Sometimes I meet people on this crime and justice beat who just take my breath away. I want to tell you about one. Where she found the courage to go through what she did is beyond me.
Her name is Vicki Rios-Martinez. She’s the mother of six, grandmother to 12 and the survivor of a murder so heinous you may never forget the details. From that unspeakable crime Rios-Martinez found the courage to fight for a change in the law.
In short, her young son, Junny, was kidnapped, sexually molested and murdered 17 years ago. It was only recently that Vicki and her husband watched their son’s killer be put to death at the Starke, Florida State Prison.
Now, I’ve stood inside a death chamber but I’ve never witnessed an execution. I don’t think I’d have the stomach for it. But Vicki and her family did. 17 years after the most horrible day of her life there she was sitting in the gallery of the execution chamber, wearing a T-shirt with Junny’s picture on it, hoping the death of a monster named Mark Dean Schwab would somehow bring her a long sought conclusion.
Instead she found herself contrasting how her 11 year old son died with how Schwab passed.
Mark Dean Schwab Executed
“The procedure was very, very peaceful. His eyes shut, his jaw went slack and he never woke up again. There was no suffering for Mark Schwab,” she told me.
In other words, Schawb’s death was nothing like her little Junny’s.
Junny Rios-Martinez was everybody’s buddy. Outgoing, athletic, handsome. He was five feet tall and weighed just 76 pounds. His picture appeared in a local Florida newspaper after he won a kite flying contest and that’s all it took to arouse Schwab. He posed as a reporter who wanted to do a follow up interview with Junny and within weeks he’d cunningly groomed both the boy and the parents to trust him.
Here’s the part that’s so unbelievable. Schwab was out of prison just one month when he first contacted the Rios-Martinez family. He had a history of violent child sex attacks and both his previous victims were about Junny’s age. Schwab faced the possibility of life in prison but he was sentenced to serve only eight years for viciously raping a 12 year old. He served less than half that and got out in just 3 years. He got no psychological treatment or rehab in prison. He was enrolled in a sex offender treatment program at the time he began to openly stalk Junny. A lot of good that did.
After they found little Junny’s naked body in a footlocker, carelessly thrown into a drainage ditch, there was a trial. Schwab was found guilty and sentenced to death. And then the penalty phase was drawn out by appeal after appeal for a decade and a half. During that time Vicki and her family grieved and tried to heal and prayed for justice.
Moments After The Execution - Vicki (center) with her husband and daughter
“We discovered there is only one page in all the law books for victim’s families,” Vicki said. “All the rest of that law book stuff is for protection of the criminals.”
So Vicki took it upon herself to add some pages to the Florida law books. She and her family won passage of the Junny Rios-Martinez, Jr. Act which prohibits those convicted of sexual battery from receiving early release.
Theirs is a large, loving clan and they worked hard to achieve the American Dream. Vicki and her husband run a popular hair salon. He also works at the Parks Department and plays in a band. Vicki, who says she was always against the death penalty until Junny’s murder, now gives victim impact speeches to law enforcement groups.
So why, after 17 years and finally finding a happy routine in life again, did they want to watch the execution of their son’s murderer? “For closure,” Vicki says. But she admits she came away feeling short changed.
“We give a convict this peaceful passage. It wasn’t scary … he didn’t have to face us,” because when the curtain opened between the death chamber and the gallery Schwab was already sedated and strapped to the gurney. The whole thing was over in less than 15 minutes.
“If you were the victim (of that man) you would face him and look into his eyes at the very last moment. You know, the eyes are the soul. They robbed us of looking into his soul. Maybe he would have wanted to say something to us,” she said as her voice trailed off.
Vicki Rios-Martinez just recently lost her beloved aunt and her father. And she wishes, without a hint of bitterness in her voice, that they would have had such a peaceful way to leave this earth. “We give it to the criminal,” she says again … “but not to the suffering.” Nothing for the victim.
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
In my honest opinion this country has loss all hope of ever being
any where near the compassionate people we all were several decades
ago. The reason? We have taken God out of our schools, forfeited the
common sense needed to live by the laws of God. Our so called leaders
in Washington DC doesn’t have the guts to meet the atheists head on and bring our country back to where our fore fathers intended. Lawyers and Judges have the least of brains in may cases to rule justice
as the constitution is written.
If the above were followed, in a few short years this country would be back on track. Crime would go down, drop outs in schools would level off, divorce rates would also decline. Homosexuality would run back into the closet where it belongs. There is more to this story, but with the media and government not at all on God’s side, our country will congtinue to go down hill. Mark my word!!!!!!
Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Agnostic, Atheist — it is not what religion or lack thereof we follow that determines the content of our hearts and spirits. It is most often the way we are raised — nurtured. I find it distasteful and disheartening to read your out-of-left-field sentence about homosexuality running back into the closet. Do you believe that stunting peoples’ unalienable, God-given rights to love one another is the solution to preventing heinous crime? I suppose I’m unclear as to why you included that sentence in your post. And why is it you think ‘the media,’ — every single individual in print, broadcast or online journalism, including myself — and the whole of ‘the government’ are not on God’s side? Does that include your buddies Ann Coulter and Bill O’Reilly? Like him, do you fear the breakdown of the “white Christian male power structure?”And, to be clear, being on God’s side or not is only a portion of the equation. What matters most is that God is on ours.
I so appreciate all the well-rounded comments here. It’s been suggested that I censor posts here. Nothing could be further from what I want to do!
I want everyone to feel comfortable posting here….just beware – someone might disagree with you. And I will back them up.
Thanks to EVERYONE for sharing your thoughts ~ DD
Diane, I understand about “censoring” but agree that we all have a right to say what we feel, despite the fact that it may be the opposite of anothers viewpoint. I think we need to remember that we all have our own thoughts about things and it is up to ourselves to try our best not to be offended. I think it is good that people do disagree. Unfortunately, it;s always the same – religion and politics isn;t it? I really don;t like reading comments like “God will help” etc….but everyone has a viewpoint.
Um…..John, I am sorry but I completely disagree with you. What has God got to do with all this? What does it matter if a person is an atheist or not…or what if someone is homosexual? So what? There are far worse problems in this world to solve than those. Putting homosexuality back IN the closet is not going to happen and nor should it. People should be free to follow or not follow religion – it does not make that person any less of a person if he or she does or does not believe. I get sick of all this rubbish about religion. Tell me..how is God going to solve this horrible, horrible injustice in this country???
Vicki’s story is very touching Diane and I am glad you have brought it to our attention. The justice system in this country is crap..despite what that horrible person on Jane Velez Mitchell’s show said the other night. He said that it was the best justice system in the world! Really?? Mmm…wonder why he thinks that…but thats ok, he has every right to his thoughts.
As they say and have said for years…child molesters never recover and always get out and go and do it all again. You would think that the US justice system would realize this and finally put a stop to it but they don;t. There are many unfortunate deaths that have occurred through poor judgment – Jessica Lunsford for instance – just one of many many examples. It was horrifying knowing that her attacker had got out of jail and abducted and killed her. Right on her own doorstep too.
Vicki has a good point, she may have watched this beast die but he did not suffer like her child did. That must be a horrible feeling…I cannot even beging to imagine.
Great column Diane, thanks again.
Diane
I witnessed an execution and the humane way it was conducted was a surprise to me. The inmate killed a young girl during a robbery that netted $3.25 and fired a shotgun that took half her face. Prior to the execution I was sitting with a number of legal and Law Enforcement personnel as we were waiting, a TV was showing a protest outside the prison. A young Attorney General in hearing a statement from one the protesters who questioned the racial disparity on death-row,stated to me
“they have a point”, at which time a gentleman who later I found out was the prosecutor calling the victim by name said ” I know _____ if she could chose a way to die , would settle for this instead of having her face blown-off by a shotgun. The whole room went silent.
The state Of Maryland is in the process of repealing the death sentence and a number of families will never have closure in losing a love one to violence. I know the cost of maintaining a person in prison is a strain on taxpayers and it’s a strain to handle a inmate with the death sentence with the cost of appeals over a lengthy period. Somehow the government is so concerned about the inmate and his or her rights, that the victim and the families are lost in the process. I don’t know what the answer is but having the death sentence is a deterrent.
DD Note to readers: Ralph Logan is the retired warden of Maryland’s largest prison.
I’ve written about Warden Logan on a few occasions – he is a great source of information for me! He knows, first hand, of what he speaks.
Having once been a victim of violent crime, I can assure anyone who reads this that closure is a word used by media and victims alike to condone the the death penalty. Once you have been a victim either directly or indirectly, the term closure has no meaning. The death penalty and all the delays that are built in to such a sentence are certainly not a deterrent to crime, but rather an extension to the grief and mental anguish of the victims.
If an express lane could be included when utilizing the death penalty, then it would serve the purpose for which it is intended.
Mr. Shelton’s remarks were very narrow minded at best. There was a reason for the theory of separation of church and state, to allow one to worship their God in any manner with no interference from the government, and since there are so many doctrines and differences within religions themselves, that religion should be kept out of politics. It is a sage policy. I think of myself as a Christian, but know many atheists and creationists that are not immoral lawbreaking citizens as implied by Mr. Shelton. I am reminded of a college friend, Sully (short for Sullivan} that was a devout atheist and one of the kindest most moral people I have ever known, more so than many of the Christian groups that I also associated with. Even if I disagree with one’s politics, religion or sexual preference, that is not the criteria I use to judge a person. I prefer to base my judgment on how one treats other human beings.
Jeff, Thank you for sharing that you have been a victim of crime yourself. Although my brother Junny was the actual victim, our family was victimized as well. First by Mark Dean Schwabb, then by the system. The system is called a criminal justice system for a reason… it is based on the criminal’s rights, not the rights of the victim or the family left behind. The castration of pedophiles does not stop their behavior, only the means of which they can force their self on the victim. As stated before, foreign objects become the weapon used. Keeping them in jail is a good way of stopping the behavior, yet our family was still victimized through threatening letters from jail by the hand of Schwab. It is a shame, but a reality. I am sure we are not the only family has suffered by the hands of the criminal from behind bars!
I was not for the death penalty before this happened myself. Although I believe in it now. An express lane would be nice especialy when the evidence is stacked, including DNA and other undeniable evidence. Yes, Jeff… an express lane for those with that type of evidence should be set in motion. I do believe that the appeals process is a good thing for those without enough undeniable evidence. I know their have been innoncent lives put to death. With today’s technology, we should be able to keep that from happening, for the most part.
For now, our job is to keep our public safe… expecially our innoncent children. Child molestor’s are breeders of more child molestor’s. Not all the victim’s of a child molestor walk away go into counceling and have a nice life. The aftermath is real, and some of those victim’s turn and become the predator themself. The statistic is real and very scary. Not too mention the statistic on the percentage of child molestor’s who are released from prison, that KILL their next victim to keep from going back!
I don’t know the answer on how to stop the problem. The good thing about the media is that our children are learning that if this happens it’s wrong, and hopefully feel safe enough to tell someone. The kids today are more aware than those of us over 40, who grew up years ago. The word is out, and education to me is the answer to anything we are unsure about, anything we fear.
Changing law’s is another. Once a pedophile always a pedophile.. just like a drug abuser or an alchoholic. A pedophiles addiction is always there. Children are everywhere and keeping our kids safe is a reality.
My brother did not die in vain. His death rocked our community, our state and most of our nation. There have been law’s made in his name, and awarness hightened all over because of his death. Our family has survived and become closer, after visiting hell. We are no longer victim’s. We are survivors.
What did I think about witnessing Schwab’s execution? Hmm…. I agree with Jeff… I never liked the word “closure” for myself. The end of the “rape of our system” by a criminal came to an end that day in July at the jail in Starke, Florida. The end of a life as we know it, to a monster who lived and recieved better treatment that most people in our nation who work hard for their 3 meals a day. I found no closure in the sense of the word, for myself that day. But I did find “some peace of mind”, knowing that my children and my family were able to witness “justice”….. for Junny…!
My grandfather’s death was so much more hard to watch because of his suffering. As my mother said… Schwab did not suffer a minute. It was way too peaceful, and no one on death row should be afraid to die…. (somehow not a good detterant). I suppose the rightous side of myself would have been happier to have sparks fly. Yet, I must admit, I would not have watched, or at least I don’t think I would have. I suppose its hard to not think of vengeance and retaliation when you have lived in our shoes.
We all have our own thoughts about what is right for ourselves and what is not. We have the freedom in this country to instill our beliefs from the moment we bring our babies home. It has to start there. Believing “it can’t happen to me”, is one way to keep our hearts and minds closed to other’s tragedies and from learning from them or teaching our children about them.
Let me tell you this… It can happen to you!
Our family is greatful that other families have been affected by our tragedy… and have made changes in their daily lives because of Junny.
Isn’t that what life is about??
Tami (Junny’s sister)
Tami – I’m honored that you took the time to write. Thanks to you and your family for sharing your ordeal. It helps everyone understand the justice system better – what works – and what DOESN’T work.
Have a peaceful holiday season. ~ DD
Tami, thank you for the sensitive and heart felt words. Perhaps I should clarify a few of my points. I was and still am a very “happy go lucky” laid back person, I recovered from my incident, but my outlook on the world changed when I stopped reading the statistics and became one and every time I read or hear about a violent criminal incident, that old wound is reopened. That is what I meant by the term closure having no meaning for me. Did not mean to imply that one could not move on with their lives. I am a stern advocate of the death penalty, but from the viewpoint of victims, I do not agree with the procedure as it is applied today, hence
the express lane remarks. I sincerely hope that you and your family experience only the best that life has to offer.
Tami, although very upsetting to read your comments, I am certainly so glad that you shared your ordeal with us. We need to know these things….then idiots like me will learn to take more care when out on my own or in the car alone or walking across the car park etc. You are right, it can happen to anyone. I know it must be horrible to lose a family member in this way but thanks again for sharing. It is vital that we know that there are horrible people out there that don;t give a damn about anyone else but themselves.
Jeff, I completely see your p0int and totally agree with your comments. you are right, no matter the religion or belief, if the person treats another well then that surely in itself is worth a thousand words. Mr. Shelton narrow-minded…..yes, I agree with that too. There is more to life than being dare I say it – a bible basher!!!
Albuquerque Journal Reader Alice writes:
Dear Diane: I totally agree with your column today that monsters who torture kids should be executed. But there are many sides to the “sex offender” issue. I would refer you to http://www.inquisition21.com with special attention to “Exiled in America”. It is also heartbreaking when you find a family situation like this. Alice
DD Web Site reader Anita writes:
“Diane, good column that makes you really think about the death penalty. i have very mixed feelings about it. i wouldn’t want my taxpaying dollars to support my child’s murderer but at the same time, killing to say that killing is wrong is illogical to me. In regards to child molesters (not murderers) … where the man is sexually aroused by children, why can’t the penalty be castration instead of putting them in prison only to cycle out to commit the crime again? Castration would eliminate the problem, would it not?”
Anita: Lots of experts I’ve spoken with say while castration would stop the actual sexual arousal of pedophiles it would not remove the underlying desire they feel for children. These experts say there is some evidence that absent the function of their sexual organ their desires could manifest in violence toward children, and rape could occur with any number of foreign objects.
With the true and incurable type of pedophile I’m afraid keeping them locked up might be the only way to keep the population safe. ~ DD
I’m all for the death penalty. We’re not helping these criminals by letting them get away with lessor sentences or even a peaceful death. When do you think they’ll turn to God? I’m sorry but I am shocked at our justice system. I had no idea it was in the shambles it is until I got thrust into it. The victim’s rights are much more important than the criminals and do you even see them posted in the court houses – which is the law – by the way.
Thank you Diane for fighting to change our justice system and protecting innocent victims.