The Arizona man involved in a fatal carjacking-kidnapping is now facing first-degree murder charges.
According to court documents obtained by AZCentral.com, Eric Maes of Sun Valley is beind held on first-degree murder charges along with additional charges following the death of his infant son’s mother, Brittany Martie. As CrimeOnline previously reported, Martie died after she was thrown — or perhaps jumped, according to new information — from her own vehicle as Maes drove off with their 10-month-old son, Abel Maes, in Peoria on Tuesday. Authorities later issued an AMBER Alert and Abel was found abandoned but unharmed in Phoenix, about 20 miles away from the scene of the carjacking.
Eric Maes was arrested Wednesday afternoon following a multi-agency manhunt and a short police chase after officers spotted him in Phoenix.
The court documents provide new details about the circumstances of the abduction. According to the report, the defendant’s sister was babysitting the infant at her home in Peoria on the day of the incident. Maes, who does not have custody of the child, reportedly arrived at the home just as Martie was loading her son into her minivan. He told police that he knew Martie would be there with their son, and jumped into the driver’s seat in attempt to take him. He also said that Martie was initially in the car with him, and jumped out of the moving vehicle as he was driving about 30-40 miles an hour. He claimed he then turned the car around and intentionally hit her.
The account Maes gave to police appears to deviate from the accounts of witnesses who reportedly said they saw the woman grabbing on to the vehicle, possibly on the roof of the car, before she was thrown off.
According to the AZCentral.com report, the witnesses called 911 and emergency responders found Martie wrapped around a fire hydrant. As CrimeOnline previously reported, she was alive but severely injured when she was taken to a hospital, and spoke to police before she went into surgery. She was pronounced dead during the surgery.
A friend of the defendant’s reportedly told police that Maes contacted her after the incident, telling her that he had run over Martie. He reportedly asked her to meet him at a gas station. He also told her that if police caught up to him, he would attempt to have them shoot and kill him. The friend went to the gas station, but Maes was not there.
Peoria Police are expected to release a statement about the new charges on Thursday.
Maes has been booked into a jail in Peoria on $2 million bail. According to AZCentral.com, the child is currently in the custody of Maes’ sister, but Martie’s family have indicated they want to baby to placed in the care of relatives on the boy’s mother’s side.
Martie also leaves behind an 11-year-old daughter.
CrimeOnline will provide further updates when more information is available.
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