Jozlynn Mari Martinez Never Found -- Jeffrey Malmberg Convicted Of Second-Degree Murder

I'm guessing that he is going to stick with the story about Jozlynn falling down the stairs and deny that he told detectives he knelt on her chest. I doubt that it will work as I think the jury will believe the detectives and give the prosecution an easy conviction.

Police search landfill for Jozlynn Martinez

March 08, 2010 5:38 PM



KENT COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – The search for Jozlynn Martinez has transferred to a Kent County landfill.



The two year old was last seen on February 22nd in her bedroom at her home on Nagold Street in Grand Rapids.



Two days after Jozlynn was last seen, her mother's boyfriend, Jeffrey Malmberg, was arrested. Malmberg has since been charged with second degree murder, tampering with evidence, and larceny after police say he admitting to holding down Jozlynn until she stopped breathing, and then dumping her body in the trash.



Police have been searching for Jozlynn since then. On Monday that search went to the South Kent Landfill on 100th Street in Byron Center.



Investigators there are meticulously going through 51 tons of trash trying to find Jozlynn's body. Essentially this search is a last ditch effort by police to go through the remaining trash from Jozlynn's neighborhood.



At the landfill, the work isn't easy. Donning protective suits and gloves, with the help of picks and shovels, officers are tying to look through every piece of garbage to find any kind of sign of Jozlynn.



“It's an art, it's not a science, the way they track this garbage,” said Det. Jeff Hertel of Grand Rapids Police. “So we're hitting it as best we can right now.”



Despite the massive effort, detectives are calling the operation a long shot. Most of the garbage taken from Jozlynn's neighborhood is believed to have been burned, but there is still some garbage they haven't looked through yet.



“There's certain stuff they don't like to burn off at the incinerator plant,” said Det. Hertel, “this was skimmed off of it and brought out here, but we thought we're going to try everything we can to find this little girl and that's why we're out here.”



One of the challenges facing detectives is that the trash was compacted twice, once in the garbage truck, and then again at the landfill. Two dozen workers are having to scoop the garbage out of the ground and then spread it out on a flat surface to allow the officers to go through it.



Investigators do say they know they're in the right place however, they've found dated newspapers and addresses on labels that point right back to Jozlynn's neighborhood and the time that she went missing.



“There is other trucks that dump in here, so we're making the best estimates we can,” said Det. Hertel, “and hitting where we should be hitting.”



As the search continues, a candlelight vigil for Jozlynn is being organized. It's scheduled for Saturday night, from seven to ten, at Rosa Parks Circle in Grand Rapids.



Jozlynn's biological father, John Rittenhouse, is putting the event together.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1373543-bottom-decoration.html

its about time they start looking in the landfill, especially considering that they had strong information pointing to her being there!!! are little children not important enough to be looked for when they are thrown out in the trash??
not trying to get off subject, buy maybe they would have found Haleigh Cummings or baby Gabriel had they looked earlier as they did in Somer Thompon's case!! I wish LE would look at what they did in Somer's case and learn to make the landfills a priority immediately after a child goes missing - in the end, the search, while it WAS expensive, it was no doubt LESS expensive because they found her so soon, so they weren't looking for weeks or months for a little body...

Tish, I completely agree with you. I felt they should have started checking the dumpsters and landfills as soon as I read about Jozlynn. I think this should be the first step once an amber alert is issued. I'm afraid little Haleigh may never be found. I hope they can find Jozlynn and at least give the little angel a proper burial.

I agree about making landfill searches an immediate priority when a child goes missing. It seems like many police departments around the country could learn by watching the way Somer's case was handled. Since many cases weren't handled as well as Somer's, we don't have a clue where Haleigh or Baby Gabriel are, and we don't have a clue who killed Nevaeh. I hope the landfill search for Jozlynn isn't too late for them to be able to find her body.

Grand Rapids mother fights to keep her infant son

March 11, 2010 9:16 AM



GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A Grand Rapids mother who tragically lost her two-year-old girl is now fighting to keep her infant son.

Consuela Martinez's seven-month-old son was placed with Child Protective Services when police started investigating the disappearance of her daughter Jozlynn back in February.

Now, Martinez is due in court Thursday afternoon for a custody hearing for her son.

Jozlynn Martinez disappeared in February, her mother's boyfriend, Jeffrey Malmberg, later told police that he killed the two year old and threw her body in the trash.

Grand Rapids Police and FBI agents have been searching the South Kent Landfill looking for any sign of Jozlynn, but they called that search off on Wednesday.

Police say finding Jozlynn's body in the landfill was a long shot, but they had to try.

Malmberg is due back in court in March to see if there's enough evidence for a murder trial.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1373665-grand-rapids.html

Family, friends of little Jozlynn Martinez gather for vigil at Rosa parks Circle in Grand Rapids

By Kym Reinstadler | The Grand Rapids Press
March 13, 2010, 9:25PM



GRAND RAPIDS — About 50 people trying to keep candles lit huddled in Rosa Parks Circle on Saturday night to remember the light Jozlynn Mari Martinez brought into the world.

Jozlynn’s father, John Rittenhouse, who organized the vigil, said he would like to keep believing Jozlynn’s light has not been snuffed out, but hope is fading.

Jozlynn Martinez, 2, has been missing nearly three weeks. Her mother’s live-in boyfriend, Jeffrey Malmberg, has been charged with her murder. Malmberg told police he kneeled on the girl’s chest until she stopped breathing, then disposed of her body in a Dumpster, though an intensive police search of a Kent County landfill did not produce a body.

“It’s tough for me knowing that I wasn’t there for her like I should have been,” said Rittenhouse, who lived most of Jozlynn’s two years in Arizona. “I wish I had stayed here and been active in her life.”

Rittenhouse said he met Malmberg only once. Last July, both were lodged in the Kent County Jail — Rittenhouse for failing to pay child support for an older daughter and Malmberg for violating a personal protection order.

“He was cold,” Rittenhouse said. “He had no emotions.”

Rittenhouse and Connie Martinez, Jozlynn’s mother, stood arm-in-arm during the brief vigil, conducted by The Rev. Sean Letorneau of the Universal Life Church.

“This is so hard to handle because Jozlynn was happy child who never failed to bring a smile to the face of everyone she met,” Letorneau said. “We believe she is with God in a place where she will never be hurt again.”

Several people spoke about the need to protect children, and some were critical of police for calling off their search for Jozlynn’s body.

Martinez did not speak publicly, but said it was soothing to gather and remember Jozlynn.

Donation canisters have been placed at a few area businesses for funeral expenses.

The family hopes to ceremonially bury some of Jozlynn’s favorite things, although no date has been set, Rittenhouse said.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/03/family_friends_of_little_jozly.html

I would NEVER bury my children's belongings if they were missing or murdered - NEVER NEVER NEVER - this doesn't even make good sense!!!
I can sympathize with having vigils, and even a memorial service - but I cannot understand wanting to bury my child's belongings... that would personally not bring me closure - i would keep the favorite things - and some other things I might donate to a hospital or something - but I couldn't just bury them... I don't know why i have a problem with this, but it just doesn't sit well with me...

I gave Brian's clothes to his friends and kept a few of them for myself...It feels good to wear them and keep them close...I have his teddy bear "Pepto" on my bed...we've been through a lot together...I could never bury his clothes...or other mementos...It would be like getting rid of HIM and his memory...WHy would one want to get rid of the memory of a loved one??? There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him...Yes it is painful at times, but after all he was a part of ME...and I loved him and don't ever want to forget him...

Police search sewer catch basins near home of missing 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez

By Brian McVicar The Grand Rapids Press
March 22, 2010, 3:18PM

GRAND RAPIDS -- Police and city workers today are searching sewer catch basins near the Northwest Side home of missing 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez, who police believe was killed by her mother's live-in boyfriend on Feb. 22.

Detectives said no specific clues sparked today's search, but they want to "cross the t's and dot the i's" in the investigation.

Police have said they believe Jeffrey Malmberg, 40, killed Jozlynn and disposed of her body in a Dumpster nearby the home he shared with Jozlynn's mother, Consuela Martinez, at 915 Nagold St. NW. Officers say Malmberg admitted to putting his knee on the girl's chest until she stopped breathing. He is jailed on a charge of second-degree murder.

Police have also sifted through trash at the South Kent Landfill and at the Kent County Waste-to-Energy incinerator, but they have been unable to find the girl's body.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/03/police_search_sewer_catch_basi.html

if they do find her in the sewer, then he should be charged EXTRA for leading the LE in the wrong direction by steering them towards the city dump!!

Man to face judge in girl's disappearance

March 30, 2010 8:23 AM

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A man who is accused of killing a 2-year-old girl will face a judge Tuesday.

Jozlynn Martinez disappeared from her Grand Rapids home just over a month ago. A few days later the man police believe took her told them the little girl was dead.

A judge will decide if there is enough evidence to send Jeffery Malmberg to trial for the death of Jozlynn Martinez.

Jeffrey Malmberg is charged with second degree murder, larceny and tampering with evidence. Police say he told them he kneeled on the little girl until she stopped breathing and then threw away her body.

At this point all police have to go on is Malmberg's word. They've dug through tons of garbage and waded through sewers but there is still no sign of Jozlynn's body.

We are expecting to hear some of the evidence prosecutors have against Malmberg and a judge will decide if there is enough evidence to send the case to trial.

We will be in court and will let you know as soon as a decision comes down.


http://www.wwmt.com/articles/mich-1374480-disappearance-newschannel.html

Mother of Jozlynn Martinez testifies boyfriend used cocaine night of toddler's murder

By John Tunison | The Grand Rapids Press
March 30, 2010, 11:13AM

GRAND RAPIDS - Consuela Martinez this morning said she and her boyfriend, accused in the death of Martinez's 2-year-old daughter, argued for about an hour the day her daughter went missing and he used cocaine that evening.

Martinez testified this morning during a probable cause hearing for Jeffrey Malmberg, 40, charged with second-degree murder in the death of Jozlynn Martinez.

Malmberg allegedly admitted to police he put his knee on the chest of Jozlynn until she stopped breathing about 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22, then put the girl into a garbage bag and into a nearby Dumpster. Detectives spent days scouring landfills for her body.

Martinez today said the two argued about 4:30 p.m., then later "made up" and started talking. About 5:30 p.m., she went to pick up her tax refund and left Malmberg alone with the children.

Later, at about 9:30 p.m., Malmberg bought and used cocaine, sharing it with Consuela
Martinez's brother and his girlfriend, Consuela Martinez testified. Everyone went to bed about 2 a.m. after the cocaine ran out.

Martinez did not explain what the two argued about.

In court today, relatives of Jozlynn wore T-shirts with the wording "We miss our angel. Jozlynn" with a photo of the girl.

Martinez testified that on the morning of Feb. 23, she discovered Malmberg and her daughter both missing. Later after police arrested him in Lansing, she met with him, first at the Grand Rapids police station and later at the Kent County Jail.

Prosecutors played a recording today of the jail conversation.

"So what actually happened?" Martinez asked him.

"She fell down the stairs. I did CPR for a couple of minutes. I flipped out," he said.

Martinez saiid she suspected Malmberg was lying because Jozlynn hated going down the stairs after falling once before. If she did go down, she scooted on her butt, she said.

While Consuela Martinez, her brother, Reggie Martinez and his girlfriend, Tia Ranall, all were in the house in the later evening hours of Feb. 22, none of them checked on Jozlynn in her bedroom.

Reggie Martinez testified he believed she was there, because Malmberg went in to say goodnight about 10:30 p.m. and he heard the rustling of the plastic cover on the girl's mattress.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/03/mother_of_jozlynn_martinez_tes_1.html

so we're supposed to believe that everyone in the house was doing coke except for the mother?? I find it odd that she excludes herself from the list of ppl that were doing coke... and I'm not sure I believe that she wasn't doing it either - it sounds to me like it was her tax refund that bought the coke. Didn't she say at first that her tax check was stolen?? and now we find out that she cashed it and friends and family (but NOT her) snorted it away...
I'm convinced that they have the right guy, but I have some serious problems with this woman's credibility. I also think there is a conflict in the timeline - but I'll have to sit down and work that out before I foolishly state something that's false... there is something in the mothers timeline that doesn't add to me...

I think Consuela said Malmberg stole cash out of her purse that was leftover from her tax refund. It wouldn't surprise me if she cashed the refund check and gave him cash to buy coke, and then the next morning, he took off with the rest of the cash from the refund. I would hope that people would use their huge refunds from the Earned Income Credit to do something other than buy drugs, but that's probably where the drug money came from.

Tish, I'm interested to see what you come up with from the mother's timeline. If I have time, I'll try to slap one together real quick tomorrow if you haven't had a chance to do it by the time I get home from work.

Confession of accused murderer played in court

March 30, 2010 5:24 PM



GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – A West Michigan man will stand trial on murder charges for the disappearance of a toddler.

Two-year-old Jozlynn Martinez hasn't been seen since February 22nd. Detectives say Jeffrey Malmberg has admitted to killing her and disposing of her body.

Tuesday saw testimony from Jozlynn's mother and a taped confession from Malmberg.

The big news to emerge on Tuesday was the fact that Jozlynn's murder happened around 6:00 pm in the evening that Monday in February, a full 15 hours before her mother noticed she was missing.

Consuela Martinez, Jozlynn's mother, says she left her kids with Malmberg to run an errand on that night around 6:00 pm. She said she was gone a short time, and when she came home she didn't notice her daughter was missing, and didn't check on her.

Martinez said she thought Malmberg had put Jozlynn to bed, and even fooled her by acting like he was talking with the girl.

“He had the door open and he sat at the end of the bed,” said Martinez, “told her, 'you gotta go night night, love you, night night.”

Prosecutors believe that Jozlynn was killed while her mother was gone, but initially Malmberg only admitted to dumping her body in the trash.

Malmberg stuck to his story that Jozlynn had fallen down the steps and that he dumped her body in the trash, but Martinez didn't believe it.

“Jozlynn didn't like to go down the stairs,” said Martinez. “She fell down them once, she wouldn't even, she didn't like holding the rail to go down them, I always had to pick her up and take her.”

After nine interviews with police, Malmberg admitted to suffocating Jozlynn by putting his knee on her chest.

What has struck many as outrageous is the way Malmberg acted after killing Jozlynn, going to buy drugs, cocaine and marijuana, and having a bit of a party inside the apartment as if nothing had happened.

Martinez says she was part of that party for only a short time, and only smoked marijuana, no cocaine. Ultimately she says she went to bed thinking that her daughter was sleeping while others shared the drugs.

The most emotional moment of Tuesday's hearing came when a recording of Malmberg's confession was played in court.

“I put my knee on her chest,” said Malmberg in that confession. “I restrained her and I got up on my knee and put a little pressure on it.”

Malmberg says he was trying to restrain Jozlynn because she was acting out, he says she was crying, screaming, kicking, and punching him in her room next to her toy box.

Malmberg says he wanted Jozlynn to calm down and thought putting his knee on her chest would do the trick, he said he did that for up to 45 seconds.

“She just started gasping for air and her breathing slowed down, and then there was no life in her,” said Malmberg in the confession. “She was staring up at me with open eyes. I held her for a couple of minutes, put her in her bed and covered her up.”

Malmberg said Jozlynn's death was an accident, and told detectives he put her back in her bed because he was scared.

When the recording of Malmberg's confession was played in court, people began weeping. Friends and family of Martinez later expressed their outrage.

“I was really furious, I wanted to jump across the table and break his neck to be honest” said family friend Cheryl Paulsen. “That just broke my heart, how could you not think putting a knee on the chest of child is not going to hurt it? It's a baby.”

Malmberg's defense attorney is likely going to try to have that confession thrown out as evidence.

Newschannel 3 has been told that Malmberg's trial is likely going to happen over the summer.

http://www.wwmt.com/articles/margin-1374509-bottom-style.html

"Mom" originally states she tucked Jozlynn in at 11pm and told her she loved her. Boyfriend states he killed her at 6:30pm.......

Does it really matter??? He killed her, even if it was an accident and he panicked by not calling 911...NO EXCUSE!!! It just makes me sooo MAD!!!

I just don't think it was an accident, he had hurt her before. I also question the Mom in this as well. Her original statement about it not being unusual that Jozlynn was not in bed at 9am, that Malmberg would take her on errands with him just didn't sit right with me.
And if he states this happened at 6:30, Mom says she tucked her in at 11pm...one or both of them are lying. It's hard to believe she didn't see or wonder about her two year old for that long of a period of time.

Mother of girl allegedly killed by boyfriend agrees to treatment plan, waiting months for decision on custody of other child

By John Tunison | The Grand Rapids Press
April 17, 2010, 6:55AM

GRAND RAPIDS -- Consuela Martinez, the 21-year-old mother whose boyfriend allegedly killed her 2-year-old daughter in February, must wait at least 90 days to see if the state will reunite her with her surviving 8-month-old son.

Martinez agreed Friday to participate in a treatment plan to better her parenting skills, prevent substance abuse in her life, make a safe home and develop a supportive network of family and friends.

Child Protective Services placed Bryan Malmberg in foster care after Martinez's live-in boyfriend, Jeffrey Malmberg, allegedly killed 2-year-old Jozlynn Martinez out of frustration because she was crying and kicking.

Malmberg was watching the two children alone Feb. 22 in the Nagold Street NW home he shared with Martinez. After her death, he placed the girl's body in a garbage bag and put it in a Dumpster.

Malmberg relinquished his parental rights to Bryan earlier this week. He is awaiting trial for second-degree murder in Jozlynn's death. Her body has not been found.
During a Friday review hearing, Martinez admitted several allegations against her used by CPS to remove Bryan from her home. Among those were her concerns about minor injuries Jozlynn sustained earlier while in Malmberg's care, but that she didn't report; knowing people living at her home used marijuana and cocaine; using marijuana herself; not taking medications for a bipolar condition and post-traumatic stress disorder; and allowing Jozlynn's father to stay with her in March, despite knowing his rights to another child were terminated.

But Jessica Conway, a foster care caseworker with Bethany Christian Services, said Martinez has made efforts to improve her life in recent weeks.

She tested clean on three drug tests and attended supervised weekly parenting sessions with Bryan without fail.

Still, she said Martinez needs to work on keeping a safe home -- Conway witnessed Martinez's new dog, a Rottweiler-pit bull mixed breed, urinate on the floor of her home -- and needs to work on getting a job.

Conway said Martinez has not worked since late last year and has no income.

The treatment plan for Martinez involves a substance abuse assessment, psychological assessment, parenting education, domestic violence education and other services.

Meanwhile, Bryan Malmberg will remain in foster care or possibly be placed with a great aunt and uncle deemed to be safe caregivers.

Kent County Circuit Judge Nanaruth Carpenter said the goal of the treatment plan is to reunite Martinez with her son and allow them to live together.

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/04/mother_of_girl_allegedly_kille.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+grpress+%28The+Grand+Rapids+Press+Latest+News+%7C+MLive.com%29