Yesterday, David Castillo, a 35 year old Honduran resident of Gibnut Street appeared in Magistrate's Court and was arraigned for the charges of grievous harm and use of deadly means of harm.
It was alleged that he had an altercation with a 20 year old Kevin Martinez, 20, whom he reportedly struck with a hammer over the head several times.
Martinez, who has had to undergo surgery for his injuries, came to 7News to explain the altercation as he remembered it before he was struck, and he passed out. The reason that he has come forward, he says, is because Castillo made some allegations in court which, according to him, are false.
Chief among them are that Martinez was the aggressor, and that Martinez came at him with a machete.
Here is what Martinez had to say in his own defence:
Kevin Martinez - Assaulted With A Hammer
"Friday the 13th, around 12:30 p.m. in the afternoon, I came from work. I came to visit my mother-in-law, because I have lunch here. I came to kiss my daughter; my girlfriend was not here, I came to have lunch here. I came into the yard from that gate. I rode my bicycle; I came here at [the] very same point. This same assailant, David Castillo, he came in front of me and confronted me about rumors I had told my girlfriend. My friend, Keran, came in front of him. I used him as a screen, and so I walked around my friend, and I told him that I didn't want any issue with him."
Daniel Ortiz
"So at this point, can you explain to us what the back story between you and this gentleman is?"
Kevin Martinez
"It's not anything much. The person just doesn't like me, and I don't have any problem with that, but as I continued, I went upstairs. I kissed my daughter and came downstairs. I was already on my bicycle. The guy came out of his bedroom there with a speed and swung at my head with a hammer. I slipped my bicycle legs, and I dodged. I came up and i started to defend myself. I was hit across the head with a Stanley yellow and black hammer. I don't know how, but I still managed to punch him two more times, but I got weak, and I fell on this row of bricks. My mother-in-law told me that that I fell face-first. So I scraped up my face. I fell head-first on this cement block. The guy came over me and still gave me two more blows to the side of my head. I got 5 stitches here, and I got 6 stitches to the top of my head. I would say that I remained unconscious for about 10 seconds, and my brother-in-law came and woke me up, telling me that I was bleeding. I tore my shirt and I put it over my head. I still had enough strength to ride to the Raccoon Street Police Station, make a report - where I waited for about 15 minutes - and they then took me to the emergency - to the KHMH. They did an operation. He fractured my skull, and the bone was like a sharpened v, so they removed the damaged pieces because they didn't want it to cause internal bleeding. Right now, my skull has a small hole, but in the future, if I want an operation to fix it, the doctors said that they would put a little plastic shield over the area to protect it from the heat of the sun. The guy wanted to get into it with me. So I already avoided it, but if somebody comes at you with a hammer, you already know that they want to kill you. I defended myself."
Castillo was remanded to prison due an objection to bail by the prosecution until January 24, 2012.
