Lynner wants closure from brother’s murder

LYNN – Amanda Le said her world “came crashing down” when a detective told her that her brother, Huy Le, had been murdered.Then she had to translate the message to her mother.”I will never forget the emotions, emptiness and looks I faced when I told my mother that my brother didn’t make it,” Amanda Le wrote in a letter. “The hurt in her eyes burned me alive.”Amanda Le was 15 years old.More than three years later, Amanda Le acknowledges that she will probably never get closure over her brother’s murder. But she is concentrating on one thing that she says might help ease some pain: seeing her brother’s suspected killer, who police believe to be hiding in Mexico, brought to trial.”We did offer a reward a long time ago, but I realized I needed to put his name out there more,” Amanda Le said.Huy Le, 19, of 64 Whiting St., was stabbed to death in Gallagher Park on Feb. 12, 2010. Police believe that Lynn resident Jaime Martinez, then 17, stabbed Le over a drug deal for approximately an ounce of marijuana and $450.A judge ordered the police reports from the stabbing impounded at the request of prosecutors when an accomplice of Martinez was arrested.Darryl Jones, 17 at the time of the incident, of Lynn, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Feb. 23, 2010.But court filings allege Huy Le was selling marijuana and Martinez had been one of his distributors. Martinez developed a plan to steal marijuana from Huy Le and enlisted two other juveniles and Jones to pretend to want to buy two pounds of marijuana from Huy Le.On the night of the incident, they all showed up at the park.At some point, Martinez allegedly pulled out a knife and began to stab Huy Le. Following the incident, Martinez and his accomplices left Huy Le to die at the park and fled in Jones’ automobile, the documents say.Amanda Le related the same story.Jones pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in July and was sentenced to 15 to 17 years at Massachusetts Correctional Institution Cedar Junction, according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, a spokeswoman for Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett. Kimball-Monahan said the case files could not be unsealed because a suspect remained at large.Police said Martinez was originally cooperative, according to previously published reports. However, officers soon realized Martinez’ statements were unsubstantiated. By that time, however, a family member told police Martinez had fled to Mexico.Amanda Le said she initially dedicated herself to funeral preparations and following Jones’ court proceedings. She said she attended every court date, often missing school.Now she is concentrating on Martinez.To see if there are any new developments, Amanda Le said she visits Lynn Police detectives, whom she praised for their dedication to the case, every few months.”We are working with the State Department and U.S. Marshals to try and locate (Martinez), and are cooperating with several agencies to try and get him back here if (Mexico) is where he is,” Lynn Police Lt. Christopher Kelly said.Martinez is also one of the Ten Most Wanted on the Lynn Police website and the television show “America’s Most Wanted” mentioned Martinez in a brief segment in February 2011. Amanda Le has printed wanted posters and displayed them throughout the city.But she said many news media have told her that the story is “too old.” She said the posters were removed a day later.But she’s not giving up.Family and friends have also not, and will not, forget. Indeed, sticks of burnt incense are in the ground at the base of a tree in Gallagher Park next to where Huy Le’s body was found. Written messages to Le have faded, but are still decipherable on the bark of the young tree.Amanda Le said she believes Martinez will be caught and will be brought to justice. She admits it will never be enough to bring back her brother. But if she can help bring Martinez to justice, she said it will help bring some closure – plus she said she feels she has to do something.”I’m st