Five knives broken in teen stabbing
Police:15-year-olds fought over video game

By CHARLES RUNNELLS, crunnells@news-press.com

A teen-ager broke at least five knives Monday night as he stabbed and killed his friend in a dispute about a video game, police said.

Mario Alberto Lopez of 239 N.E. 9th Place repeatedly stabbed Joseph Martins in the chest and the rest of his body, police said. Both boys were 15.

After each blade broke, Lopez went to the kitchen and got another kitchen knife from a cabinet, police said.

When police arrived, they reported finding Lopez standing above Martins’ body in the hallway of Martins’ house at 414 S.E. 18th Ave. Martins lay in a pool of blood, surrounded by broken knives.

Investigators later asked Lopez why he used so many knives.

“He just wouldn’t die,” Lopez responded.

Lopez was charged with first-degree murder and transported to the county juvenile detention center.

Lopez said the fight started when Martins got angry over a video game and punched Lopez in the mouth. The stabbing happened at about 8:30 p.m. Monday.

Marquis Pasley, 15, a friend of both boys, had been playing football video games with Lopez and Martins just 30 minutes before, Pasley said.

“Mario, he was cool and everything, but he was acting funny,” Pasley said. “He wasn’t talking much.

“I’m glad I left when I did.”

Pasley insisted the murder wasn’t over a Dreamcast video game. “He did it because he was depressed,” he said. “Mario was a nice kid. It was just that day that something in him clicked.”

Lopez’s father, also named Mario Lopez, wouldn’t comment in detail.

“All I can say is we’re really, really sorry,” he said in a low voice. “We don’t know what happened.

“This is a double tragedy, really.”

Pasley said Martins was a fun-loving boy who liked video games, playing football in his yard and doing impressions of characters like Beetlejuice. He said Lopez was generally fun and never violent.

Martins’ family couldn’t be reached for comment.

The District 21 Medical Examiner’s Office wouldn’t release the findings of Tuesday’s autopsy, referring all questions to the Cape Coral Police Department.

Police investigator Doug Christianson won’t answer questions about the case — including how many times Martins was stabbed — until the investigation ends.

Lopez and Martins were students at North Fort Myers High. They had recently been transferred to the Alternative Learning Center in Fort Myers, said school spokesman John Dattola. He said the reasons for the transfers are confidential.

Pasley, however, said both boys were recently expelled from the ALC, and that’s why Lopez was depressed.

Lopez had run away from home that weekend and spent the night Sunday at the Martins’ house, police reported. Pasley said Lopez had argued with his mother.

Lopez said he’d taken a knife from the kitchen and put it in his pocket because Martins sometimes “messed with him” and he wanted protection, police reported.

This is the second murder in Cape Coral this year. In 2001, the city had two murders the entire year.

[From News-Press.com, 9 May 2002]