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In Wake Of Chasco Shooting, Family, Friends Focus On Boy

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By DAVID SOMMER

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 11, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - Travis Williams-Martell had it pretty good for a 7-year-old.

His dad taught him to fish and hunt. They spent as much time together in the woods or on the water as Joseph Martell's schedule allowed. On March 22, the boy posed for a picture in front of his dad's Ranger flats boat, proudly displaying a keeper redfish the child had just caught on "ultra-lite" tackle.

A week later, Travis' whole world caved in.

His father was dead, shot twice at close range with a large-caliber pistol, abruptly ending a day of partying at the Chasco Fiesta.

Joseph James Martell, 34, of Homosassa, operated an asphalt plant in Sumter County with his father.

Friends said the argument started over a woman's use of a private portable toilet during the afternoon street parade. Martell, 34, loved the annual event and also savored the street party that followed as downtown New Port Richey filled with cheerful revelers.

Apparently, slaying suspect Max Wesley Horn Jr., 46, could not let go of the toilet dispute earlier that day. When bystanders took him to the ground and held him for police after the fatal shooting, Horn reportedly said Martell "has been asking for it a long time, he's been stalking my sister."

Martell wasn't stalking anyone, said friend Tom Shell, 34.

He and his younger brother met Martell after his family moved to New Port Richey from Wisconsin 20 years ago. Martell taught the Shell boys to hunt and fish, and one or the other occasionally accompanied him on his annual November hunting expeditions during deer season in the dense northern woods of his former home state.

Shell was with Martell throughout their visit to the Chasco Fiesta on March 30. Shell said he was standing in the street about 100 yards from his friend when the shots rang out.

Dan Shell, 30, had ridden downtown with Martell that morning and left about an hour before the shooting. Dan Shell said there was a dispute over the private toilet that Martell and his friends had set up in the parking lot of a now-empty legal office across the street from the Hacienda Hotel on Main Street.

The encounter was brief, and the woman was directed to a nearby public restroom. She apparently complained to her husband, who later confronted Martell with the backing of Horn, Dan Shell recalled.

"For what happened to have happened is just ridiculous," a third friend, Lee Clark, said of the shooting that took place more than eight hours after the initial dispute.

Now, Martell's family and friends have turned their attention to his son.

The boy's grandmother, Mary Martell, has set up a trust fund at Wachovia for young Travis' future education.

"We feel there were two victims in this: Joe and his son," Mary Martell said. "Joe was a wonderful son and a great dad ... he had many friends and they are good people. Joe was very loved."

Travis' mother, Amy Peters, who said she remained "best friends" with Joe Martell after she married another man, has also set up a trust fund and is organizing the Joe Martell Memorial Softball Tournament.

The National Softball Association and the Community Animal Rescue Educational Shelter are sponsoring the benefit, which includes prize drawings, on May 24 at Veterans Memorial Park in Hudson. If more ball fields are needed, games also will be played at W.H. Jack Mitchell Jr. Park in New Port Richey.

That's likely, given that at least 16 teams have signed up, said Peters, who went by her maiden name of Williams when Travis was born.

Peters said she was walking across Grand Boulevard to talk to Martell when he was shot that Saturday night.

"I saw it and I'm having a hard time," she said.

Travis, who was not at the event, is receiving counseling and sleeps with a few photographs of his father under his pillow, Peters said.

"At the end of the day, Mary and Kenny Martell are without their only son, and my and Joe's son has to grow up without his dad," Peters said. "There are a lot of questions that are going to come as Travis gets older.

"When he asks why his dad was killed, we tell him, 'That's why we practice good gun safety and don't get into confrontations with people.'"

Joseph Martell's remains were cremated and his ashes have been scattered at his favorite hunting spot in the woods of Wisconsin, his mother said. A 300-pound rock with a carving of a multi-pointed buck and Martell's name marks the spot.

In April, Travis placed third in the children's division of The Angelus Fishing Tournament and won a backpack, rod and reel, his mother said.

"His daddy was very proud of him looking down on him that day," Peters said.

FOR TRAVIS' SAKE

WHAT: Joe Martell Memorial Softball Tournament

WHEN: Starts at 8 a.m. May 24

WHERE: Veterans Memorial Park, 14333 Hicks Road, Hudson

OTHER WAYS TO HELP: Donate to the Travis Jesse Martell Trust Fund at any Wachovia branch or the Travis Williams-Martell Fund at any Suncoast Credit Union branch.

Reporter David Sommer can be reached at dsommer@tampatrib.com or (727) 815-1087.

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