Former Tampa Bay Rays first-round pick Brandon Martin was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday after he was convicted of murdering three people in his family's California home in 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported. Martin carried out the murders with a baseball bat, and his father and uncle were two of the victims.
In September 2015, Martin was arrested in connection with the murder of his father, uncle and a security technician. The Martin family was having a security system installed on their home that day and Martin beat all three victims with a baseball bat that had Martin's last name on it.
Martin won't be eligible for parole during the life sentence. The Riverside County (Calif.) District Attorney's Office was previously seeking the death penalty for Martin prior to his sentencing.
Martin led police on a chase in 2015 after committing the murders. While fleeing, he ended up jumping out of a second-story window of a home and into a backyard where he was eventually taken down by a police dog. He has been in jail since his arrest.
Martin had been dealing with unspecified psychiatric issues before committing the murders, according to Yahoo Sports. Two days prior, Martin admitted to police that he had choked his mother and threatened her with a pair of scissors. In addition, Martin had previously admitted to punching his father and put his mother in a headlock.
Martin was originally selected by the Rays with the No. 38 pick in the 2011 MLB Draft. During his three seasons in the minor leagues, he hit .211/.281/.371 in 628 at-bats. Martin stop playing following the 2013 season and was released by the organization in March 2015.
