WAKEFIELD — The estranged husband of a slain Bronx woman whom relatives claimed abused the mom during their tumultuous three-year marriage was being sought by cops Tuesday, police said.
The manhunt for Omar Martinez, 31, intensified when the NYPD distributed a photo of him in connection with the stabbing death of his wife, Maxine Martinez, cops said.
Relatives of Maxine Martinez, 44, who had three children, said the loving mom was the victim of repeated abuse during the couple's rocky relationship.
"They didn't get along," said Garyann Williamson, Maxine's 19-year-old daughter. "He wouldn't listen and they'd start arguing."
Shellian Williamson, 15, Maxine's other daughter, said the disputes usually escalated to violence.
"They used to fight a lot and he used to hit her," said Maxine's 15-year-old daughter, Shellian Williamson.
Maxine Martinez, a Jamaican immigrant who worked as a babysitter, was found unconscious with stab wounds to her neck and head Sunday on Baychester Avenue, between Camp Street and Nereid Avenue and just two blocks from her home, police and relatives said.
She was rushed to Montefiore Medical Center and pronounced dead, leaving her family reeling.
“I had a dream about her last night,” Garyann Williamson said Monday. “But when I woke up, the feeling wasn’t there. I started to remember that she’s gone.”
Cops released a photo of Omar Martinez Monday night and described him as being 5-feet-4-inches tall and and weighing 180 pounds.
NYPD Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly displayed a photo of Omar Martinez to media outlets Tuesday morning.
Maxine Martinez, who didn't live with Omar Martinez, maintained a relationship with him because of financial dependency, her daughters said.
"She said she'd never leave him," Garyann Williamson said. "She always appreciated what he did for her, the help he put in. For Christmas, he'd buy us gifts.
"She always stressed about bills," she added.
