A man lunged at a maintenance worker, fatally stabbing him before running from the Park Ridge Apartments on Friday in what appears to be a burglary gone wrong, according to court documents.
The incident ended with 46-year-old Greg Martin, a father of two, dying in the building at West Serendipity Circle from a stab wound to his upper chest. The El Paso County coroner confirmed the cause of death after an autopsy.
Isaiah Jackson, 21 was jailed Friday and continues to be held without bond on suspicion of first-degree murder, burglary and felony menacing. He is scheduled to make his first appearance before a 4th Judicial District judge on Monday.
According to the affidavit, Jackson told police detectives he was “having financial problems” and decided to break into the apartment across the hall from his sometime before 9 a.m. Friday to look for “items he could pawn.”
Jackson used a rock, the affidavit said, to break the window and enter the apartment where Ron Phillips, 44, lives. Phillips was not home at the time.
Martin and his brother John Martin, who both work maintenance at the apartments, were sent to investigate the reported broken window.
The Martins confronted Jackson inside the apartment and ordered him to get down and stay where he was, the affidavit said.
That’s when Jackson apparently used a knife he found during the burglary and stabbed Greg Martin, who was trying to hold the burglar at bay with a fire extinguisher.
John Martin chased Jackson outside, where he saw the man run across Academy Boulevard and toward an office complex just east of Palmer Park.
Police found Jackson among the rocks on park land just behind the offices. He quickly surrendered, the document said, saying, “I’m the guy you’re looking for. I’m the one from across the street.”
According to the affidavit, Jackson admitted committing the burglary and attacking the maintenance man. The suspect asked detectives during an interview at the CSPD Police Operations Center “how the guy was.” Jackson said he wasn’t sure if he actually stabbed the man because he “was wearing a big brown jacket.”
Phillips returned home when he heard about the burglary and the stabbing. He confirmed that a socket set, drill and plastic bag full of items recovered at the scene belonged to him. Police said Friday that a knife was also found at the scene.
Greg Martin’s death was the sixth homicide of seven in Colorado Springs in 2013, compared to four in the city at this time in 2012.
Greg Martin’s mother Joy Martin said Wednesday she was “devastated” to hear about her son’s death. She said she was at work and was told to call her grandson as soon as possible.
“You just know something is wrong, but you don’t know what it is,” Joy Martin said about hearing the news of her son’s death. “My child is not supposed to go before I do. It has just left a big hole in my heart.”
She said Greg Martin was born in Ohio. She said he was a University of Michigan sports fan and spent most of his adult life as a carpenter. Greg Martin began his maintenance job at Park Ridge about four months ago, she said, adding that “he loved his job and he loved the tenants.”
Greg Martin leaves behind a 20-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter, Joy Martin said. He has two sisters and John Martin is his older brother.
“John is having a hard time with this,” Joy Martin said. “He said he’s lost his best friend.”
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