HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY) – Hampton Police are hoping new video will help close a murder investigation and bring closure for a grieving family.
“I just tell you, a piece of me is gone,” said the victim’s mother Shawnte Gwathney.
Gwathney knows far too well the pain of losing a son.
“It has been rough,” she added. “It’s been real rough.”
Gwathney can tell you the exact minute her life was forever changed.
“My oldest son called me at 1:37 in the morning and told me that Hector had been killed,” she said.
20-year-old Hector Martinez Jr. had been at a party on May 31. Hampton Police say he was on his way home and stopped at the Miller Mart on the corner of Coliseum Drive and West Mercury Boulevard to get gas.
“We know the victim Hector arrived at the location with several friends,” said Hampton Police Det. Steve Rodey.
What detectives don’t know is what led up to the shooting or who pulled the trigger. They just released video of the suspect’s white car pulling out of the gas station seconds before someone fired from inside.
“We know that people were around,” Rodey added. “We know they saw what happened. They probably know the suspects that did this, however they aren’t coming forward.”
“You mean to tell me nobody saw nothing?” Gwathney said.
Gwathney says this is a mother’s nightmare.
“Sometimes I still get up and wait for him to come through the door,” she said.
The pain for Gwathney is not only overwhelming, but never-ending.
“I know it’s not going to bring my baby back, but it will help me deal with this a little bit better,” Gwathney added.
It’s even harder knowing the person who caused this pain is still walking the streets.
“I just felt hurt and angry,” she said. “I just fell like the people who saw anything and are not saying anything are just as guilty as the person who pulled the trigger on my son.”
There is now a $2,000 reward in this case.