Brittany Martie Wiki – Brittany Martie Biography
Brittany Martie died after she was thrown from her van while trying to protect her child as Eric Maes, her 10-month-old son’s father, drove away with her son inside. The woman killed trying to protect her young son from a kidnapping before an AMBER Alert was triggered in Peoria on Tuesday had always wanted to be a mom, family members said.
Police said Brittany Martie died after she was thrown from her van while trying to protect her child as Eric Maes, her 10-month-old son’s father, drove away with her son inside.
Officers spotted Eric Maes in Phoenix near 23rd Avenue and Cactus Road around 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday. Authorities had been searching for him since Tuesday evening. Officers say they tried to talk to Maes but he ran off. City of Phoenix park rangers and Peoria police helped Phoenix police with the search of that area. Maes was found and taken into custody in a wash/canal near 23rd Avenue and Thunderbird Road. He was then taken to the Peoria Police Department headquarters. He’ll be booked in 4th Avenue Jail on one count of manslaughter, police said.
Brittany Martie Age
Brittany Martie was 30 years old.
Baby found Safe
Peoria police notified the public of the kidnapping about 8:45 p.m., and an Amber Alert was sent out for the baby after midnight. The Arizona Department of Public Safety told The Arizona Republic it was researching the nearly six-hour delay between the kidnapping and the Amber Alert.
The baby was found safe at about 1 a.m. Wednesday when Peoria police went to a north Phoenix location for a report of an abandoned child, according to police.
The baby was clothed and in good health when he was left on the doorstep of a home near 23rd Avenue and 21st Drive, said Peoria police spokesperson Sgt. Amanda Gaines, who added that the home was not known to Maes or Martie. The unoccupied minivan was found less than a mile away near Cactus Road and Interstate 17. Amber Alert tweeted about 2:20 a.m. that the alert was canceled.
Suspect
About 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, Phoenix police received a 911 call reporting a possible sighting of Maes near 23rd Avenue and Cactus Road, according to a department statement. Officers arrived and saw the man matching the description. When they attempted to make contact with him, the man ran away.
The two police agencies as well as city of Phoenix park rangers worked together to search the area. While searching the canal near 23rd Avenue and Thunderbird Road, officers found Maes and took him into custody, Phoenix police said.
Maes was being transported to the Peoria Police Department, where he will be interviewed, processed and booked into jail on one count of manslaughter, though charges may be added or amended, Peoria police said about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
“The family has requested privacy as they try to process this tragic event,” Gaines said in an email on Wednesday. “They have asked me to relay to all media partners that they are not interested in speaking with the media at this time.”
Family
Melanie Cowan said she and Martie have been best friends since they met in 2014.
Martie was goofy, loved taking photos, and was always giving and nurturing — after her mother died, she took care of her father and grandfather on top of being a mom to her daughter, who is now 10, Cowan said.
Although her legal name was Brittany Martie, Cowan said that is a married name and she had been going by her maiden name, Brittany Walker.
“She was this sweet, tiny, cute little thing, but she had strength like five times that,” Cowan said.
Cowan declined to talk about Maes, deferring to Martie’s family. She said Martie was dedicated to her family. “The raw strength she had for that baby — I wouldn’t expect anything else from her,” Cowan said. “She went down fighting and that’s not surprising.”