Trial Set For Ex-MLB Player Charged In Corona Triple Murder Case

CORONA, CA — Trial is scheduled to begin Monday for a former Major League Baseball player who is charged with killing three men in Corona with a baseball bat.

Brandon Willie Martin, 27, of Corona was the 38th overall Major League Baseball draft pick selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011. But in 2015, he took a very bad turn, according to prosecutors.

In March of that year, he was released by the Rays — and just six months later he bludgeoned to death two family members and an ADT alarm installer with a black wooden baseball bat engraved with his name, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office.

Martin is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, and the DA’s office alleges a special circumstance of multiple murders, with DA Mike Hestrin seeking the death penalty in the case.

In September 2015, Martin was at the family's home on Winthrop Drive in Corona when he took the black bat to his disabled father, Michael Martin, 64; his uncle, Ricky Andersen, 58; and Barry Swanson, 62, the ADT alarm installer, prosecutors allege.

Swanson was at the home to install an alarm system because the family feared Brandon, according to prosecutors.

The bodies of the three men were discovered by Brandon’s cousin who called 911.

Brandon made a getaway in Swanson’s Ford Raptor pickup, but the next day Corona police spotted the truck driven by the ex-big leaguer and a chase began, according to prosecutors.

Brandon eventually ditched the truck and fled on foot. In his attempt to evade officers, he broke into a home, but Corona police eventually cornered him on Derby Street thanks to a police canine.

The former MLB player is now housed at Robert Presley Detention Center is Riverside with no bail set for him.

His trial begins at 9:30 a.m. Monday in Riverside.