Share and Follow
Left: Isiah Martin (Instagram). Right: Larry “Trae” Marshall III (GoFundMe).
A Washington state man will spend more than six decades behind bars for ordering two teens to murder a 16-year-old boy in retaliation for a robbery he did not commit.
Isiah Davon Martin, 31, was sentenced on Friday to nearly 61 years in prison for the 2023 slaying of 16-year-old Larry “Trae” Marshall III, the Tacoma News Tribune reported. A jury in June found Martin guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree and second-degree murder, court records show.
Prosecutors in a sentencing memorandum said the ordeal began four days before the murder — on March 25, 2023 — when Martin was robbed at a local mall. Martin recruited Davonte J. Pool and Vincent L. Bradley III who were 17 and 16 at the time of the shooting to handle his dirty work, according to prosecutors. In the days leading up to the slaying, the suspects went to Lakeside Landing Apartments in Tacoma “looking for a suitable target,” the memo said.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
Shortly after 1 p.m. on March 29, 2023, the suspects were driving to the complex when they spotted Trae, who did not rob Martin but was friends with the people who did, per prosecutors. Trae was walking to the complex to see his buddies. Martin, who was driving, did a U-turn, and parked his car. When Trae walked through the gate, he told Pool and Bradley to get out of the car and start shooting. Pool and Bradley fired a total of 33 rounds at Trae before getting back into Matin”s car and driving away, the memo said.
“The three killed Trae, a 16-year-old boy, who appears to have had nothing to do with Defendant’s robbery,” prosecutors wrote. “Instead, Trae only wronged Defendant by claiming to be associated with the kids who had robbed Defendant and by making fun of Defendant online. That was all it took for Defendant to set up an ambush in the middle of a weekday and have his co-conspirators indiscriminately gun Trae down.”
More from Law&Crime: ‘The back of her neck is decapitated’: Man who ‘hasn’t done anything but cause destruction’ allegedly murders girlfriend, a mother of 4, then chops up her body
Martin, who was paralyzed in a shooting about 10 years ago, testified at his trial, claiming Pool and Bradley acted on their own and made a “spit second” decision.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Philip Sorensen noted during the sentencing that Martin was the lone adult in the car but did not act like one.
“This community needs adults that will help kids see right from wrong, that will help kids do what needs to be done to keep themselves and this community safe,” Sorensen said, per the News Tribune. “To me, this is the worst kind of betrayal to this community that we could have.”
Added prosecutor Brad Hashimoto: “Mr. Martin was the only adult in that vehicle, and he’s the only person in that vehicle with motive. He led these kids to do something terrible.”
Pool and Bradley were previously convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Family posted a tribute to Trae on a GoFundMe page.
“Trae was smart, funny, charismatic, and an amazing athlete. And yet, he was so much more than words could describe,” the page said.