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Report: Student who attacked Las Vegas teacher said he 'didn't like teachers,' 'was getting revenge'

Jonathan Martinez in court
Posted at 5:02 PM, Apr 12, 2022
and last updated 2022-04-13 14:00:32-04

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — An arrest report obtained by 13 Action News lays out details of an assault that now has a 16-year-old student facing 15 felony charges.

The student, who is being charged as an adult, was identified as Jonathan Eluterio Martinez. He is accused of attacking one of his teachers at Eldorado High School after school on Thursday.

The injured teacher was interviewed by police at University Medical Center. Detectives noted she had dried blood on her face, and that her eyes were so bruised and swollen that she kept them closed during the interview.

The teacher told police Martinez had come into her classroom after school and asked to discuss missing work. She pulled up her records on the computer, and he moved behind her to be able to see them. That's when, all of a sudden, the teacher recalls what felt like a rope being wrapped around her neck, and Martinez choking her until she could not breathe and thought she was going to die. In his own interview with police, Martinez told investigators it was a computer charging cord, the report states.

RELATED: Teacher attacked by student asks to 'set record straight,' says it wasn't about grades

The teacher said she asked him repeatedly why he was "doing this" to her, and Martinez told her "he had something like 'multiple personalities'" and that, although he "really liked" her, he "didn't like teachers" and was "getting revenge," the report states.

After choking her to unconsciousness, the teen admitted he removed articles of her clothing, according to police. He is accused of sexual assault and battery with the intent to commit sexual assault, based on elements of the attack both he and the teacher recounted to police.

The educator told police she awoke with a cabinet on top of her, and that Martinez sat on top of it.

"That was a lot, I for sure thought I was done at that point," she told detectives.

FULL COVERAGE: Attack at Eldorado High School

When she was discovered after the attack, her body was partially underneath one of the cabinets he'd knocked on top of her, the report states. She told police Martinez had "easily" tipped over a 7-foot-tall filing cabinet and another filing cabinet that was approximately 5.5 feet long.

At another point in the attack, she says she felt Martinez trying to cut her wrist, but it didn't work. She recalled him talking to his mother on the phone and saying, "can't you just die already, hurry up,'" after the call disconnected.

The teacher told police she tried to "pretend to be dead" multiple times so the student would leave her alone, the report states. Eventually, Martinez left. He told police he took the teacher's keys so he could lock her in the classroom, but saw someone in the hallway and decided against it.

Martinez was booked into the Clark County Detention Center. As of Monday, he faces the following felony charges:

  • 1 count of burglary  
  • 1 count of first-degree kidnapping resulting in substantial bodily harm  
  • 2 counts of battery by strangulation with an attempt to commit sexual assault 
  • 3 counts of battery with intent to commit sexual assault  
  • 2 counts of battery with intent to commit sexual assault resulting in bodily harm 
  • 1 count of attempt of murder (with use of a charging cord for strangling)
  • 2 counts of attempt murder  
  • 1 count of attempting murder with the use of a deadly weapon (scissors)
  • 1 count of sexual assault 
  • 1 count of robbery

Detectives also talked to his mother, who said he seemed "depressed and disconnected" of late, but would not talk about what was wrong, police wrote in their report. A school counselor told police Martinez is an average student who participated in the Reserve Officers Training Corps, or ROTC.

"I don't know why I attacked her, she was good to me," he told a detective who interviewed him after his arrest.

MORE:Judge lays out next steps for teen accused of teacher attack