North Sacramento twins appear on charges they stabbed mother, stepfather

Twins Cody and Kevin Martinez were arraigned on attempted murder charges Wednesday for allegedly stabbing their mother and stepfather in the parking lot of their North Sacramento apartment.

A casual Cody Keith Martinez leaned on the rail of his courtroom cell as Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael Bowman read the attempted-murder charge, along with allegations that he used a knife and caused great bodily injury.

Witnesses to the bloody Sunday night attack in the 1500 block of Los Robles Avenue said Martinez’s mother and stepfather were stabbed multiple times in their upper bodies, a violent end to what neighbors said was constant fighting among family members at the apartment. The mother and stepfather were taken to a local hospital in serious condition. Cody and Kevin Martinez drove away from the apartment after the attack, say police, but were arrested Monday morning.

The brothers, 26, will return to Bowman’s courtroom next Wednesday. They are being held without bail at Sacramento County Main Jail.

Minutes after Cody appeared, Kevin Geraldo Martinez, his jail-issued pants sagging to near his knees, heard the same charges.

“That ain’t my knife, though,” Kevin Martinez told Bowman before receiving quiet but strong words from his attorney, Sacramento County Deputy Public Defender Brooks Parfitt.

Police say they don’t know what prompted the parking lot attack. An uncle of the female victim told The Sacramento Bee that the Martinez twins said they were trying to take their mother to a hospital for an ailment when their stepfather intervened. Neighbors said the stepfather and the Martinez brothers argued often and that the twins often slept in a hallway of the apartment building because the stepfather would not let them into the home.

A handwritten sign taped to the window of the apartment warned the brothers to stay out.

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 2:56 PM.