Photo: Ralph Smith (Getty)
The family of a Connecticut man who died during a game of beer pong have actually been rewarded $15.6 million thanks to a lawsuit they filed against the other players in the game.
It all kicked off in 2013 when 24-year-old victim, Salomon Martinez, got together in Stratford to play a game of beer pong with Kyle Gonzalez, Matthew Chandler and Stephanie Dwyer. Everyone agreed to a $10 wager, but during the game, a fight erupted after the other players accused Martinez of cheating. The fight led to bottles being thrown, a fish tank being smashed and worst of all, Martinez somehow falling out of a fourth-story window to his death.
Photo: Kyle Gonzalez, Matthew Chandler (Police Handout)
As the altercation got more heated, Martinez fled upstairs and locked himself in a child’s bedroom, but Gonzalez broke down the door. One of the men was allegedly brandishing a knife. It is not known how, but in the ensuing fracas Salomon fell from the building and landed on the street below. He suffered broken legs, a fractured skull, and organ damage in the fall.
Police attended the scene but the partygoers had no knowledge of Martinez’s fall. The cops were called back an hour later once the body was discovered.
When Gonzalez was brought from prison to give evidence to the court, he said that even though he broke down the door, Martinez was no longer in the room. However, Salomon’s mother, Yolanda Martinez, cried when detailing the heartbreak her son’s death has caused not only to her, but to his young family as well.
Gonzalez and Chandler were just sentenced as they both plead guilty to first-degree manslaughter, with Gonzalez getting 15 years and Chandler getting ten. The woman, Dwyer, fled the state after the incident and is thought to be living in Florida. Police have yet to locate her.
And a day of deliberation, the jury agreed that his family should be awarded $15.6 million, although that won’t be bringing back Martinez anytime soon.
It is unclear when the family will actually receive the sum.
