Friends, neighbors speak out after woman found dead in Wilmington Island apartment

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Chatham County police are on the hunt for a killer. Police say he’s still on the run and they need your help.

This is following a deadly stabbing on Wilmington Island along Oyster Shell Road, in the Bull River Bluff community.

Chatham County police say 37-year-old Addison Martinez is wanted as a person of interest in the stabbing death of his mother.

Police responded around 6 p.m. Monday night.

WTOC discovered he is no stranger to law enforcement, with a record in Chatham and Glynn County he just got out of jail last week.

‘That is unsettling to me’: Neighbors react to death

Neighbors in the Bull River Bluff area of Wilmington Island say their 59-year-old neighbor was found dead by her daughter Monday.

Neighbors say the woman was found nearly a day after she was actually killed.

A neighbor spoke with us off camera, for safety concerns.

“I think it’s scary just to know that it was so unnoticed. It seemed like, you know, it obviously happened the night before, and then the police or nobody was called until the very next afternoon, so from like probably 9 p.m. to 5 p.m. the next day. So that is unsettling to me that unfortunately something that terrible happened, and somebody was left alone down there, and we all just kind of went about our business because we didn’t know that anything had gone on.”

The victim’s son, 37-year-old Addison Martinez, is wanted as a person of interest in her death.

This is the most recent photo of him—taken Saturday on her couch.

Police say Martinez was driving his mother’s car before abandoning it in Pooler.

Chatham County Police and SPD’s SWAT Team also went to the Highlands area Monday night after concern about other family members being hurt.

WTOC speaks with friends of deceased

Friends of the woman who passed tell us she’s been terrified of her son for quite some time, and that this isn’t the first time something violent has happened to her at the hands of her son.

Those friends shared that Addison was living with his mother since last week when he was released from jail.

“My stomach has been in knots ever since it happened, and I just hope that they can find him and give her family peace.”

Martinez was in the Glynn jail for the last eight months on aggravated assault and terrorist threats charges, until he bonded out for $178.

Martinez’s prior record

Three years ago Martinez was charged with fleeing from officers, going double the speed limit and also DUI in Chatham County.

He was sent to a mental health facility for part of his sentence.

Now, Chatham County police have released several photos of Martinez because his appearance could change.

He’s around 5′7 and could be as small as 110 pounds. 

Police say Martinez has a history of severe mental health issues and potentially violent tendencies, and has not been taking his medication. 

Anyone with information on where he might be is asked to call 911.

Chatham County police declined our request for an interview Tuesday.