El Dorado High students mourn the death of 17-year-old Miguel Martinez

Classes Monday morning at El Dorado High just didn’t feel right, students said.

“A lot of people were quiet and sad,” said one student.

Many kids were wearing black and teachers — crying in class. The school is mourning the death of 17-year-old Miguel Martinez, a junior.

“It was weird because I had seen him last Saturday morning,” said junior Raul Sambles. “I had tutoring, he sat in front of me, we were talking. And last night he passed away.”

According to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Martinez got into the back seat of a red Jeep early Sunday morning around 2 a.m., surrounded by four of his classmates Abraham Castorena (16), Ruben Barron (16), Pedro Batres (17), Diego Paredes (16).

Police haven’t told the media who was driving, but they said the five were riding down a dirt road near the 13200 block of Lopez Drive when the jeep hit a brick wall, and then flipped after it smashed into a light pole.

The crash caused one passenger serious head trauma, and for Miguel Martinez, death. Police are still investigating whether alcohol was a factor.

“When my teacher told me about it, it kind of hit me, to know that someone died and had the same class I did,” said senior Christopher Flores. “So, it’s kind of tragic.”

This is the second tragedy for El Dorado High students in a little less than three years.
In November of 2010, 14-year-old Hector Heredia died after he and three other friends took his mother’s car without permission, ran a stop signed and were T-boned by a Hummer on Zaragosa and Sun Fire.

But in Miguel Martinez’s case, police haven’t confirmed just what happened in the seconds before the red Jeep hit the brick wall.