He Threw His Newborn Baby Off the Balcony | Clarence Martin Jr.

This episode is coming out late because it’s a midweek mini edition

A panicked 911 call in the early hours of a quiet October morning revealed a nightmare no one could have imagined. A newborn thrown from a balcony, a fire set, and a suspect found half naked at an airport. But what pushed a father to unleash such chaos in just one night? Welcome LaMs. Welcome to love and murder, heartbreak to homicide. Your midweek mini edition. I know it’s coming out late, but wait till the end and I’ll give you the reason why it’s coming out so late today. In the meantime, hi, my name is Ky. I invite you to go ahead, take a listen all the way to the end. And if you like my retelling of this episode, go ahead and leave me a five star review on whatever platform you’re on. If you’re on a platform that could leave a review. Also, don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss any more true crime cases. And if you didn’t know, you can also subscribe on our Patreon patreon.com/loveandmurder. You can subscribe for free and you do get some benefits of being a free subscriber. Or you can join the LaM Patreon Fam and get bonus episodes, case extras, no intros. All of these exclusive benefits by joining the LaM fam. Patreon.com/loveandmurder.

Baby London was thrown off second story balcony by fiance Clarence Martin Jr. Jeffrey Street

Uh, now without further ado, because I know I made you wait all these hours already, let’s get into your midweek mini. On October 24, 2022, at around 3:40 in the morning, Nicole Poole called 911 from her apartment in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her baby, just seven weeks old, had been thrown off of a second story balcony by her fiance, 32 year old Clarence Martin Jr. She was still holding the phone when she ran downstairs and found her daughter London lying in the parking lot. A neighbor joined her and started cpr. Nicole was uh, panicking and I cannot even imagine her daughter wasn’t breathing. Just hours before, they had all been in bed together. What the hell went so wrong? Clarence had woken up and started kicking Nicole and Dababy. She got up and tried to move to the living room to get away from him, but he followed her. Then he grabbed London and walked out to the balcony. A few seconds later he came back inside without the baby. The baby had fallen more than 22ft. She died at 4:55am she wasn’t even two months old yet. The coroner reported the cause of death as blunt force head trauma causing catastrophic damage to the infant’s developing skull and brain. While Nicole and the neighbor were trying to save London. Clarence went back into the apartment and started a fire in the living room. Their family dog, a poodle, was trapped in a cage and died from the smoke and heat. Seven other apartments in the building had to be evacuated while firefighters put out the blaze. As all of this tragedy, devastation and chaos was happening, Clarence got into Nicole’s white Mercedes and fled the scene. He slammed into a Toyota on the way out of the complex, then caused two more crashes while speeding away. At one point, he rolled the Mercedes on the 215 beltway, ditched the car at the airport, and somehow made it into a restricted area by crawling onto a luggage conveyor belt. What in the world is going on here? Once inside the airport, he found a TSA uniform shirt in the employee break room and a yellow safety vest and put them on. He then took off his pants and headed for the tarmac. So that’s the picture. He’s in a, ah, TSA uniform shirt, he has a safety vest on, no pants, and he’s heading for the tarmac. Airport surveillance caught him putting various items into an American Airlines van before airport security and Las Vegas police arrested him. The chaos, the. What the hell? And while they were cuffing him, Clarence was yelling, quote, burn female dog. Jeffrey Street. Jeffrey Street. He didn’t say female dog, but you know what I’m saying. And the hell, Jeffrey Street. Uh, okay. That’s how the night ended. Now, I know you heard all of this, and your brain is, like, literally still at the beginning even trying to wrap your head around that part. So let’s find out what the hell. According to the arrest report and court testimony, Nicole told police that her and Clarence had been in a relationship for four years, and he had a long history of mental health issues. Oh, uh, she said that although she knew about Clarence’s previous mental health challenges, she’d never witnessed it for herself until three days before. This is when she saw changes in his behavior and that he had completely stopped eating and sleeping for those entire three days. Now, if you know anything, and I can’t say every single body has these, um, warning signs, but the ones that I have dealt with have these warning signs. And if you know anything, these are the warning signs that an episode is about to come on. But as she said, I can’t fault her. I can’t fault anybody, actually, because as, uh, she said she’d never seen it before. She knew the history, but apparently he was on a calm streak and everything was good. Maybe he was taking his medicines. Maybe he Wasn’t. But something made him snap. Something made this happen. So let’s continue. Throughout their four year relationship, Clarence’s behavior had apparently remained stable enough that they had built a life together, even welcoming baby London. Less than two months earlier, one witness told police that she saw Clarence leaving the apartment while shouting, quote, burn, female dog, burn. This is what you get for cheating on me. Investigators also found out that Clarence had recently lost his job during the pandemic, potentially exacerbating his mental health struggles. I told you something had to have happened. So basically, Clarence just had the right cocktail for psychological distress. He lost his job, he has a brand new baby, the pandemic, and as you know, everything going on during the pandemic, and in my opinion, I think he was just stressed beyond, probably wondering how he’s going to be able to support his new family. Worried about his soon to be wife and his baby with no money coming in. Yeah, I mean, if he was aware of what was going on, uh, with his mind, he should have checked himself into the hospital. But people with this issue are, uh, not always aware of when it’s going downhill. And then Nicole had never witnessed his mental problems, so she wouldn’t have even known the warning signs. So it’s just, it’s just all very, very sad. In court, his defense attorney, Betsy Allen, said Clarence had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and was, quote, so delusional that he believed he was in a movie. She claimed that he had little memory of what happened, quote, that’s how delusional he was at the time of this crime. After he was arrested, Clarence was booked on 13 felony charges. Open murder, child abuse, animal cruelty, arson, multiple counts of battery, attempted murder, and assault with a deadly weapon. So he got the charge of open murder for killing London by throwing her off the second floor balcony. He got the charge of first degree arson, uh, obviously for setting the apartment on fire. He got the charge of cruelty to animal, which is actually first degree torture, for the death of the poodle who was in a cage and died of heat and smoke inhalation. He got the child abuse, neglect or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm. So those were two counts for the abuse of London before her death. So remember, she said he was kicking them. So they counted that as another count. And the second count was for the actual act of throwing her off the balcony. Then he got three counts of battery with a, uh, deadly weapon. And that was because of the hit and run crashes. And those crashes involved at least three other cars, including rolling her car over on the beltway. Then he got the charge of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm, because at least one of those people in those car crashes were in the car when he crashed into the car. So they ended up getting serious injuries. And he got charged with that. He had a charge of attempted murder with a deadly weapon for intentionally ramming vehicles with his car during the chase, which the prosecutors said was attempted murder. He got the charge of assault with a deadly weapon. And they were saying this is possibly because of his erratic and aggressive behavior during or after the crashes. It also could be linked to him threatening others while running. He got the charge of attempted murder with a deadly weapon against a victim 60 or older because one of the people that he hit with the car was 60 years or older. So this elevated that initial charge and then added a vulnerable victim enhancement to it. And then he got the charge of battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm against a victim 60 or older. And this was tied to the same elderly victim because they were seriously injured during the incident. Throughout the proceedings, both the defense and prosecution. Now this is interesting. Acknowledged that Clarence did have a documented history of mental health issues, and court records confirmed his diagnosis. The defense presented evidence. The defense presented evidence detailing how this serious mental illness affected his perception of reality and decision making capabilities. This condition, characterized by symptoms of both schizophrenia and mood disorders, causes significant impairment in daily functioning. Documentation presented to the court describes schizoaffective disorder as triggering paranoia, delusion, and severely impaired judgment.

Clarence Clearances was sentenced to life in prison for infanticide

In cases similar to clearances, patients often demonstrate, quote, grossly irrational behavior and take actions that they are, quote, unable to control due to their condition. And let me tell you, the people that I know with this similar diagnosis, I can’t say it’s exactly the same, but it’s very, very similar. They say that, too. They say they cannot control what they’re doing. Um, one person says the voice is like. Really? They hear the voice, and then it’s like, you should do this. You should do this. And it’s really hard to ignore the compulsion and the voices. This is what they say. And we have to understand this is their mind, the chemicals in their brain. You know what I’m saying? And your brain controls every function in your. The chemicals in their brain is telling them to do XYZ and xyz. Chief Deputy District attorney Parker Brooks acknowledged Clarence’s mental health issues, but urged a judge to remember the victims. Baby London and Nicole. And Clarence was found guilty by a jury on October 2024. In sentencing, prosecutors asked for a life sentence with the possibility of parole after 49 and a half years. Defense attorneys argued that Clarence’s actions stemmed from his untreated mental illness, justifying a reduced sentence with parole eligibility after 25 years. Instead, Judge Carly Kearney went with the prosecutor’s request. See, I don’t agree with this. Quote, I don’t say this lightly. This is the worst case I’ve ever seen. It boggles my mind. Nicole sat in the court for sentencing and told the judge that, quote, she doesn’t feel like the same person since losing her daughter in relation to Clarence. Quote, he just needs help. But she also admitted that she didn’t know the right punishment for him. Her daughter was dead, her dog was dead, and her fiance was gone, and her life was shattered, just all in one night. Clarence was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 49 and a half years. So basically, life in prison. He’d been given credit for 1,551 days that he’d already spent in custody, and he’s currently being held in a psychiatric ward. The court’s decision to impose life imprisonment with parole eligibility after 49 years represented one of the harshest penalties in recent Nevada infanticide cases. And that’s what I was going to say. That’s kind of wow. Especially if all of y’all acknowledge that this dude was not in his right mind or why. Okay, let’s continue. Advocacy groups for child victims express strong support for Judge Kearney’s maximum sentence decision. I don’t think people are understanding what’s going on here. I don’t think people understand that this dude literally thought he was in a movie and he really didn’t know this was happening in real life. In contrast, mental health advocates pointed to the case as evidence of systemic failures in identifying and treating severe psychological disorders before they escalate to violence. Exactly. Legal experts said that infanticide cases in Nevada typically receive severe penalties, but clearances stood out for its particularly horrific circumstances. So it was used to serve as a precedent for similar cases. How can you. In a comparable Nevada case, defendant Rayshawn Coleman faced first degree murder charges for child abuse resulting in death. Unlike Clarence’s case, the jury in Rashawn’s trial found, quote, mitigating circumstances outweighed the single aggravated circumstance, resulting in a severe sentence of life with parole possibility after just 20 years. So even though he got life, he still got a, uh, lesser charge than Clarence. And I say this is a BS because if you look at this case, this dude was doing drugs. And, you know, I was going to do a different case next week, but I’m going to cover this case next week. So y’all can see the contrast. And this is what I was talking about in a previous case, the case of Lisa Snyder. So if you didn’t listen to that case, the link to it is in the show notes below. And remember, if you, if you did listen to it, remember, she hung her kids and then blamed it on her kids. And her defense tried to blame mental health, but she has no history of this whatsoever. In Clarence’s case, it’s clearly documented that he has mental health issues. And even Nicole was aware. Like, she knew about it, but she’d never seen it. So it’s, it’s different when you know about it. You hear, like, stories about it, but you’ve never witnessed it. It’s. It’s completely different. And even she doesn’t hold it against him. I’m going to say allegedly, based on what I got from her quotes in the report saying that, you know, quote, he just needs help because she knows he wasn’t in his right mind. He was probably a great father and boyfriend up until that point, and that just happened out of nowhere. I’m not saying he should be free, running around to hurt himself or anyone else, but I also believe he shouldn’t be in prison. He should possibly be in a mental clinic for the rest of his life continuously getting help. And I’m going to tell you one thing. I’m going to tell you this based on the people that I know, and this is completely around the board now. I know there’s going to be some people who call, who write in and go, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Whatever I’m talking, based on my experience and across the board, based on my experience with the people that I know that have this kind of mental health issues. When he came back to clarity and he was told what he did, I’m going to let you know right now that he was harder on himself than anyone could be. He probably believes that he should rot in prison and he probably will never forgive himself. Now, uh, okay, think about this. Equate it to sleepwalking. You’re sleepwalking. You think you’re in a dream and you do this to your child, Then you wake up and find out that, oh, it wasn’t actually a dream, you actually did this to your child. How would you feel? You know what I’m saying? That’s what you should equate it to. And these people are like, well, we want to show a harsh punishment and set the precedent. Set the precedent for what? He had no freaking clue he was doing it. And it’s documented across the board. And defense, prosecution, and the judge all agreed. So he was not somebody who was playing the mental health card. He actually has the mental health issue. So what the frick precedent are you setting that you don’t give a frick about mental health? Fuck that. We just need to make sure we put all these people away. Now you have him in jail, he’s kicking his own ass because he did this to his precious daughter. And you have him in jail instead of a mental institution getting help. How does this make sense?

Poll question for this episode is do you think he should be in prison

Uh, anyway, this is a sad case all around. I want to hear your thoughts on it. Leave them below for me, as usual, and I’ll put out a poll. And the poll question for this episode is going to be, do you think he should be in prison or do you think he should be in a mental institution? And please don’t just focus on the horrible thing he did. Yes, he did a horrible thing. And I’m telling you right now, he’s kicking his own ass. He is beating himself up. He cannot believe he did this. I’m, um, telling you right now, that’s how this man feels. Look at the whole picture. Don’t just look at that. He was not in his right mind. He was gone. Nobody was home. You have to understand mental health, real mental health, not people playing mental health, real mental health. His mind was gone. That’s why I said equate it to sleepwalking. Do you, whatever you dream about, do you now wake up and say, you know what? In my dream, I was cheating on my husband, so now I’m a cheater? Do you do that? You can’t control your dreams. It’s a freaking dream. So look at the whole picture and then go ahead and answer the poll. Do you think he should be in prison or do you think he should be in a mental institution? Those polls are going to be on the Patreon and it’s going to be available for free. So you can sign up for free on the Patreon. Patreon.com loveandmurder it’s also going to be available on Spotify. So if you listen to this on Spotify, then you can answer the poll question there. You already know where I sit with this. I don’t think he should be in prison. I think he should be in a mental institution. And not only does he need to Understand that this is not his fault. Um, he just needs to be able to take care of his mental health issues on a whole. And that is that for this case. That’s a horrible, horrible case. I feel bad for everybody involved. It’s just a case where. You know what I’m saying? It’s like, there’s no winner. There’s no winner. You know, it’s just everybody. It’s just a sad case.

The episode came out late because something happened in my life

But shifting gears, I did tell you I was going to let you know why the episode came out late and just why it’s been coming out late these past couple weeks. As you know, I do these episodes by myself, so if anything goes wrong in my life, like, anything is like, my timeline is thrown off at all, then it just throws everything off. And that’s just what’s been happening. Um, I had to take my car to the shop. I had to do this. I was just away from my desk for so long, I wasn’t coming back to my desk until, like, evening time. So, you know, imagine you have a 9 to 5 job. You’re supposed to do all your tasks between 9 to 5, but you don’t get to your desk till 5. Plus you have to cook dinner, plus. Plus. You know what I’m saying? So that’s just what’s been happening. Um, and I’m just like, I’m trying not to beat myself up because I hate when I don’t get the episode out on time. But it’s just me. It’s only me here. I have nobody helping me. And, uh, so I could only do what I can do. So I’m just like, telling myself, as long as you get the episode out, you get the episode out. My LaMs will understand. Well, I hope you all understand. And, you know, as long as they get their episode, they’ll get their episode.

There are going to be some changes coming up to lam’s podcast

And speaking of that, there are going to be some changes coming up to lam, and once I figure out Solidify, I have an idea, a loose idea of the changes. But once I solidify the changes, I will let you know about what’s going on. Um, I actually won a grant for the podcast, and I do have a set of podcast coaches helping me with love and murder to make it the best that it can be. Um, the reason I won the grant is because I pitched my podcast and I told them what makes this true crime podcast different from others, and they completely agree with how I’m putting out my episodes, the messages that I’m portraying and everything like that. They listened to the episodes. They loved it. They loved my retelling. I don’t want to say they loved the cases, obviously, but they understood, like, the messages I was putting out and they really want this podcast to be successful, to continue with the messages that it’s putting out. So with that being said, there’s a lot of stuff happening in the background. Um, and so there’s going to be a couple changes, uh, to the podcast. And when I solidify those changes, I will let y’all know it’s not gonna be anything bad. So don’t be like, oh my God, she’s leaving us. No, I’m not. Um, but I just want to give you a heads up that there are going to be some changes, good changes in the near future and I can’t wait to tell you all about it. Um, so don’t forget to go ahead and answer the poll question. Or you could just leave your comments below. The poll question is, do you think he should be in prison or a mental institution? Um, and next week I’ll be doing that other case. So you could just see the clear differences because absolute bullshit in the sentence and I just, I don’t agree with it. But anyways, that’s all I have for you today. I would have read comments, uh, but the episode’s coming out late, so I’m, I still need to edit it and everything and try and get it out before midnight. So.

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

AI Gein here because Kai forgot to remind you that April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. If you suspect child abuse, call the Child Help National Child abuse hotline at 1-800-4A-CHILD or 1-800-422-4453 or go to childhelp.org all calls are toll free and confidential. The hotline is available 247 in more than 170 languages. Be vigilant, be diligent, and don’t let fear get in the way of helping our children.

That’s all I have for you today and I will see you in the next episode by.