Family Shares Grief as Driver Sentenced in Death of Susie Martinez
- Anne Boswell Taylor
- 2 hours ago
- 4 min read
~Anne Boswell
Marian Collins and her family sat in a Bent County Courtroom Friday to finally hear an outcome that seemed to never come.
Tina Tallman was sentenced to 45 days in jail, 15 days with an ankle monitor, and 12 months of probation with sobriety monitoring for the death of Susie Martinez in December, 2025.
Martinez died crossing the road at Highway 50 and Elm in Las Animas by a vehicle that Tallman was driving.
Martinez was Collin's Marian Collins mother and in a victim impact statement, Collins poured out her feelings to the court on the loss of her mom. She added that on the night her mom died, it could have been both of her parents she lost. The following is an excerpt from her victim impact statement:
"It was a miracle that my Dad wasn’t killed along with my mom since they were holding hands while walking across the crosswalk that evening.
On the evening of the incident, the defendant, Tina parked her car and returned to the scene of the crime where she seemed to not even know what had happened. When she was brought to the realization of who the victim was, she immediately began to make excuses for why the incident happened. She told everyone standing there that she couldn’t see and that she didn’t see anyone standing outside the Church building.
The defendant, Tina walked to my house on Wednesday, December 10th and asked me for forgiveness. Being the Christian woman my Mom taught me to be, I told her that I forgave her. She told me and my friend who was visiting me that she would NEVER drive again. She then immediately started giving me excuses for killing my mom. The defendant, Tina told me that she couldn’t see anyone standing outside of the Church building. She blamed my mom for wearing dark clothing and that her mind was on going to the store to buy her mom a Christmas present on December 8th. She told me that she thought that she hit a dog. I then walked her to the door since I couldn’t handle her behavior anymore. This behavior has continued directly with my family, with social media, and in personal conversations in the community. In a small town, obviously this has been repeated to my family over and over."
Susie Martinez's husband, Cruz, told the court he and his wife had been married 55 years. He explained that were married in that very church close to where she died. Cruz went on to recount of their three children, six grand-children and one great-grandchild.
Doing daily errands in his community has been incredibly painful as people still asked about Susie.
"I hate going to the stores because the workers or shoppers ask me for my “other half” It’s hard to go to the store. I wasn’t able to go to the store for 6 weeks after Susie was taken from me.
The first significant snow fall was difficult for me because she was always helping me shovel at the St. Marys’ Church, Rectory and St. Mary’s Hall." Cruz wrote.
Tallman had been to court two other times for Friday's plea/sentencing hearing but they were re-scheduled due to requests made and granted in the case for a pre-sentence investigation.
In Friday's sentence headed down to Tallman, in addition to 45 days in jail, 15 days with an ankle monitor, and 12 months of probation with sobriety monitoring, Tallman's driver's license was revoked and she will undergo a mental health evaluation. She will be required to turn herself into the jail on August 7th.
It's a hard pill to swallow for Collins who summed up her feelings in her statement.
"Please understand the serious impact and ramifications of my mom’s death on my family and our community. If this had happened to the defendant, Tina or one of her family members, how much leniency would she or they want the driver to get? All that is being requested is a fair, and just sentence that to some degree forces the defendant to take accountability and responsibility for the senseless act of violence she has imposed upon us all. Anything less will surely make my Mom’s death and impact of her death more significant and be a further act of senseless and careless violence."
Cruz finished with much the same sentiment, of the loss, the loneliness and the disbelief that it really happened.
"Whatever sentence the defendant, Tina is given here today will pale into insignificance compared to the sentence we are living. A sentence which says I will never see my wife again. She can say that she’s sorry and that’s a beginning, but we’re just asking for justice. It haunts me that Susie was killed in such a senseless manner. I stop by the Church roadside and I stand there daily and wonder how was it possible for this to happen..."
Collins told us the judge mentioned that the court believes that a just sentence will have jail time. Tallman will need to turn herself in on August 7th by 8AM. Tallman faces additional charges if she fails to do so.
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