- Video shows intersection where Alfonso was hit, the gas station he visited, and the Martinez family
- Alfonso Martinez took a trip to the local gas station convenience store but never made it back home. He was crossing an intersection without a crosswalk and was hit by an oncoming vehicle. He was taken to the hospital where he later died, but his family is still honoring his memory this Thanksgiving.
Inside a mobile home consecrated with Dallas Cowboys gear, you’ll find a damaged wheelchair and Dallas Cowboy sneakers once belonging to a passionate fan.
“He was a big cowboys fan,” Steve Martinez, Alfonso Martinez's son said.
That fan, Alfonso Martinez, left his home at close to 6 p.m. on November 2 for a quick trip to the gas station across the street.
“We weren’t aware that anything had happened to him,” Steve said.
Julio Cesar Hernandez, an attendant at the gas station, said he saw Martinez waiting at the intersection on his wheelchair for over 15 minutes just trying to cross.
“He was just trying to cross the street, trying to get to the other side because he had to take his medication,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez tried to help him cross, but Martinez ended up in the blind spot of a young man turning out of a nearby neighborhood.
“When that man hit him, his wheelchair buckled, and his body flew,” Hernandez recalled.
Hernandez stopped traffic almost getting hit as he picked up Martinez to carry him to the sidewalk.
“If I didn’t pick his body up and put him on the sidewalk, he would have gotten ran over again,” Hernandez said.
An ambulance took him to Kern Medical where he underwent surgery.
“To find out what happened, it’s hurtful to think you know how did he feel like was he scared,” Adam Martinez, Alfonso's son said.
Doctors told his family, he no longer had function in part of his brain and out of respect for their father's wishes, they decided to take him off life support.
“You’re in fear of what the worst could be, and our fears came true the next day,” Steve remembered.
The Martinez family is not the only one to experience loss like this.
In the last decade, pedestrian fatalities nationwide increased by 77% with California ranking the highest in pedestrian deaths in 2022, according to the Governor’s Highway Safety Association.
“I mean when we were in the hospital, I think another four families came in of people hit by cars,” Steve said.
The number of people killed in Kern county steadily increased, according to 23ABC’s count.
Since 2018, almost 200 people died in pedestrian versus vehicle crashes, and so far in 2023, 35 people died after being hit by a vehicle.
Despite losing their dad, the family still plans to honor his legacy this Thanksgiving.
“I was with my mom shopping today, and we went and bought cranberry sauce," Adam said. "No one eats it but him, so we’re still gonna make it and still have it on the table, just in memory of him.”
Following Martinez’s death, the family members hopes to see a crosswalk or stop signs installed at this intersection to keep people safe.
You can support the family on their GoFundMe page.
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