The family of Marine veteran Daniel Martinez, who was stabbed to death by a bouncer at the Sons of Boston bar earlier this month, announced Thursday that they are planning to file a lawsuit against the establishment.
Boston police responded to a report of a stabbing on Union Street, which is just a short walk from Faneuil Hall, on March 19. Responding officers found Martinez, 23, who is from the Chicago area, with life-threatening injuries. He was taken to a local hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
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Court documents said that Martinez died of a single stab wound to the right part of his chest.
The suspect, Alvaro Omar Larrama, 38, of East Boston, turned himself in to police two days later and remains held without bail on a murder charge. Authorities said Larrama was a bouncer at Sons of Boston.
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Prosecutors said Martinez and a friend were waiting in line outside the bar where Larrama worked as a bouncer just before 7 p.m. on the night of the stabbing.
Surveillance video shows Martinez and Larrama exchanging words, and investigators later learned that Larrama had denied Martinez and his friend entrance to the bar, the prosecutor said. Martinez and his friend walked away but were pursued by Larrama, the prosecutor said.
The video then shows Martinez raising his left hand as if to defend himself, then striking Larrama in the head with an aluminum beer bottle, before Larrama stabbed the victim in the chest, the prosecutor said.
Attorney Tom Flaws, who is representing the family, said at a press conference Thursday they are "troubled" by the circumstances leading to Martinez's death and what happened afterward.
"They allowed a man to staff the door with a weapon, without a license to do so," said Flaws, of the Boston firm Altman, Nussbaum & Shunnarah. "The city has alleged that after the stabbing, the bar did nothing to call for help for Daniel or to catch the person responsible. It's been reported that the assailant was allowed to reenter the bar, clean blood off himself and escape through the back door."
"Given what we've learned, we're announcing today we will be filing a civil lawsuit against Sons of Boston," he added, which "will allow us to investigate whether the bar could have prevented this incident."
Flaws said the suit will be filed in Suffolk County Superior Court in Boston once Martinez's estate has been finalized.
Manuel Martinez, Daniel's father, said his son had already started thinking about his post-military plans, and was planning to buy a house in the Chicago area for him and his brothers to move in together. He was also thinking about attending film school.
"When you lose a loved one, whether it be a child or a parent, it's difficult -- it's human nature," he said. "That loss of separation that you're never going to see them again here on this Earth."
In the wake of the stabbing death, the city suspended Sons of Boston's entertainment license, which allows them to host events like live music and karaoke. The suspension is pending the submission and review of the business's security and operations plans.
Their liquor license is in full standing and the bar remains open. The liquor license is expected to be reviewed at a later date.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
