"I'm mad. I'm really angry because, I feel, [with] the circumstances, it should be considered a homicide," said Esther.
Letty's aunt, Esther Martinez, believes she was lured out of her home on Michigan Avenue in San Jose's Alviso Neighborhood at 6:45 a.m. by a phone call from someone she knows. Relatives think she was then attacked by someone who didn't like the fact that she was gay.
"We all feel that she was set up," said Esther.
Still, police are being much more guarded with their information. They would not even release the name of the person who died. Investigators are trying to figure out if the victim was attacked then driven a few blocks to a church where she was left for dead or if she was dragged while holding on to a car. They are calling it a suspicious death -- not a homicide.
"We're confused on that. We say she was killed, so it should be treated [as a homicide], but it's not," said Esther.
The Martinez family says Letty Martinez had just started a job at McDonalds, had a new girlfriend, and was really happy about the way her life was headed.
"Everybody loved her. She was the life of the party. We're taking it really, really hard right now," said Esther.
San Jose police are trying to figure out how she died and say they do not have any evidence that this was a hate crime.
