FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — In a last-minute twist, an accused serial rapist decided to back out of a deal to plead guilty to several of the heinous crimes investigators said he committed against women over several years.
Errol Martinez was supposed to plead guilty before a Fulton County judge Nov. 8 for several unsolved rape cases in Roswell, dating back to 2014.
According to investigators, Martinez allegedly raped four different women over the course of two years. In each case, he allegedly cased, targeted and ambushed the victims, all between 46 and 60 years old, before threatening and violently assaulting them.
The cases remained unsolved for years, until DNA collected from one of the victims traced back to the then-23-year-old suspect. His arrest and confession to some of the attacks helped solve several cases, and connected him to another similar incident in Gwinnett County.
But just moments before a judge would have sentenced Martinez to serve life in prison with the possibility of parole as part of a plea deal, he met with his lawyer and, after a short recess, decided to back out of the deal.
No victims appeared during the court hearing Thursday, but their statements to investigators were read out loud.
Martinez faces charges of rape, aggravated sodomy, aggravated assault, strangulation, burglary, simple battery, possession of a firearm during commission of a felony, false imprisonment, theft by taking and kidnapping.
The case will now go to trial in front of a jury.
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