It started out as an easy grab for a ride back home to New Jersey. Saleema A. Martin, 21, was walking down Spring Street in Midtown Atlanta around 4:30 on a busy afternoon when he spotted a Lexus SUV sitting idle. The engine was running, the driver was nowhere in sight, and the doors were unlocked. For a guy looking to hit the road, it seemed like an easy score.
Martin hopped into the driver’s seat and hit the gas, leaving the curb behind in seconds. But he did not realize what was sitting in the back. A two-year-old girl was strapped into her car seat, completely hidden from his initial view. It was only after pulling away into Midtown traffic that Martin noticed his unexpected passenger.
Realizing he had just upgraded a vehicle theft into a kidnapping, Martin scrambled to stay ahead of the law. He spotted an iPad sitting inside the Lexus and quickly threw it out the window. He knew enough about modern tech to realize police could use the tablet to pinpoint his location in real time.
Things escalated when the toddler started crying in the backseat. Martin pulled off near Collier Road, steering the stolen Lexus into the parking lot of the Howell Mill Village Publix shopping center. Instead of running off or leaving the child behind, he climbed into the back with the frightened toddler.
Atlanta Police officers tracked down the stolen SUV shortly after the mother reported it missing. When officers approached the vehicle in the Publix parking lot, they found a disturbing scene inside. Martin was crouching down in the tight space between the front passenger seat and the car seat. The two-year-old was out of her safety seat, and Martin had both hands placed directly on her torso.
Police immediately pulled Martin out of the vehicle and handcuffed him. When the girl’s mother arrived at the scene, she noticed something right away that made her stomach drop. The bottom of her daughter’s dress was unbuttoned. When she asked her little girl what happened, the child pointed toward Martin and gave a simple, terrifying answer: “The man did it.”
During police interrogation, Martin tried to explain away his actions. He told investigators he only jumped in the car to get back to New Jersey and insisted he touched the little girl just to calm her crying. He claimed he crouched down only because he saw patrol cars rolling through the area. But when detectives pressed him on why he was wedged into the backseat touching the child’s torso, Martin shut down completely and refused to answer any more questions.
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