The city of Corona and Riverside County are being sued over the violent deaths of three men who were allegedly killed by a former pro baseball player immediately after he was released early from a psychiatric hold at a county mental health facility.Brandon Willie Martin, 23, is awaiting trial for the murder of his father, Michael Martin, his uncle, Ricky Lee Andersen, and a bystander who tried to intervene, Barry Swanson. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by the children of Andersen and Swanson.

The lawsuit also targets two home security companies – ADT Security Services and Home Defender – which allegedly overheard the murders while it was happening through a recorded phone call, but did not alert police to the crime.

Neither Corona, Riverside County, ADT nor Home Defender have responded to the lawsuit in court yet. County spokesman Ivan Chand and AFT spokesman Bob Tucker both declined to comment. Corona assistant city attorney John Higginbotham said the city believed the lawsuit was “without merit,” but declined to go into more detail. Home Defender could not be reached for comment.

Martin was a baseball star at Santiago High School in Corona who was drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2011, then played in the minors for a few years before being cut for undisclosed reasons. After his release, Martin returned home to Corona to live with his parents, with whom he had a deteriorating relationship. At home, Martin abused drugs and alcohol, the lawsuit states, and exhibited an irrational, “racially-charged” hatred of his father, who was black, despite the fact that Martin is biracial.

“Despite being an alarm and security company and knowing the attack was ongoing, neither ADT LLC nor Home Defender, Inc. alerted authorities.”

The events that led to the killings began on Sept 15, 2015, when Corona police took Martin to the Riverside County Department of Mental Health’s emergency treatment facility. Prosecutors have said that Martin was placed in the facility because he made threats against his father, but the lawsuit claims Martin had attempted to kill his mother twice in two days — first by choking her and then by holding scissors against her neck while “rambling that he will never play baseball” again so long as his parents were alive.

According to the lawsuit, the mental health facility was required to hold Martin for a 72-hour psychiatric hold, but instead released him after only two days due to lack of space.  When Martin’s mother, Melody, heard her son was coming home, she called ADT in hopes of having a security system installed immediately.

“Melody Martin pleaded with Riverside Mental Health to keep Brandon at their facility and not to release him early,” the lawsuit claims. “Ignoring her pleas, they released Brandon and failed to inform Melody Martin that Brandon was given a bus pass to return to the home.”

When Brandon Martin arrived at the home, he found his father, his uncle and Swanson, a contractor who was in the process of installing a new alarm system. Prosecutors have said Martin grabbed a baseball bat from inside the house and pummeled all three men.

The new lawsuit describes the killing in terrifying detail. Martin first smashed his father – who used a wheelchair – in the head with the baseball bat, killing him instantly. Swanson heard the commotion and tried to stop the attack, but was then beaten by Martin also. Andersen was struck with the bat from behind, then dragged into the garage and “left to die.” Martin then stole all three men’s cell phones, Swanson’s wallet and his father’s truck.

At the time of the attacks, Swanson was on the phone with Home Defender, a contractor for ADT, setting up the new security system at the Martin household. According to the new lawsuit, the murders can be overheard over the phone call, which was recorded.

“Despite being an alarm and security company and knowing the attack was ongoing, neither ADT LLC nor Home Defender, Inc. alerted authorities,” the lawsuit states.

The crime was discovered hours later when Anderson’s son, Michael, arrived at the Martin house looking for his father. Michael Martin and Swanson were already dead, but Anderson was still alive and soon slipped into a coma. He lingered for two days before succumbing go his injuries.

Brandon Martin was arrested the following day after an off-duty Corona police officer spotted Michael Martin’s truck. He attempted to stop the truck, but Brandon Martin fled, dodging several patrol cars, then bailed out of the truck and ran into a house where a woman was taking a shower. As police surrounded the house, Martin tried to escape by leaping out of second-story window, only to be captured by a police dog.

Martin is currently charged with three counts of murder with a deadly weapon, plus numerous other felonies, and is eligible for the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty, and is scheduled for a trial readiness hearing on Sept. 23.

The lawsuit also accuses Corona police of overlooking Martin’s prior violence against his father because of his baseball stardom. The suit claims that Martin punched his father in the head several times in 2014, but a police officer who investigated the attack did not arrest Martin out of concern that it would damage his baseball career.

A court hearing in the lawsuit has been scheduled for March 13.

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