Dozens of state labor union employees gathered on Lawyers Mall in Annapolis Monday to honor the memory of their fallen brother, Davis Martinez, a parole and probation officer, who was slain during a home visit with a registered sex offender.

The candlelight vigil served as a launchpad for a piece of legislation named after Martinez that would add safety standards and hold public employers accountable for violating protocols.

Union leaders, lawmakers and Martinez’s partner spoke of the tragedy of losing Martinez and other public employees last year from what some have called preventable deaths.

Martinez’s partner, Gypsy Barrientos, told the crowd encircling her that losing him was the most painful thing she has ever had to experience. There are days when she struggles to get out of bed.

“Every time I look through the photos of us,” she said, “instead of reveling in that memory, I just ask myself: How many days did I have left that day?”

Alongside her stood members of Martinez’s family, who listened through the low murmur of a Spanish-speaking interpreter.

Barrientos brushed away tears, recalling what she knew of the day Martinez was killed and her dissatisfaction with the state’s response. She called for the state to perform “a proper investigation” of Martinez’s death and to provide ballistic and stab-proof vests for agents.

“We were promised over and over again at Davis’ funeral, that Maryland would do everything in its power to ensure this will never and will never happen again,” she said, adding that passing the bill would help the state keep its promise.

Union remembers workers

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Maryland Council 3 President Patrick Moran beat the drum for increased worker safety. State workers have “been forced to put their lives, health and well-being on the line” and have been “subjected to unsafe and unhealthy working conditions.”

Moran named two Baltimore sanitation workers who died on the job last year. Timothy Cartwell was crushed by a trash truck, and Ronald Silver II succumbed to hyperthermia in August while working on a city trash truck.

Probation agents, like Martinez, conduct in-home visits with convicted felons who are transitioning back to living in communities. These visits ensure probationers adhere to their conditions of release.

Martinez reported weeks before he died that Emanuel Edward Sewell, the convicted sex offender he last visited, had told him he would no longer cooperate with officers. Martinez’s coworkers became concerned after he wasn’t responding to their messages and called local police who found his body brutally beaten in Sewell’s apartment. Police arrested Sewell and charged him in connection to the killing.

After Martinez’s death, the union called for Department of Public Safety and Corrections Services Secretary Carolyn Scruggs’ resignation, saying she has long ignored health and safety concerns they’d raised.

At a December hearing, Martinez’s local union president told lawmakers she and her colleagues had still not been told what went wrong the day Martinez died.

‘Woefully inadequate’ response

Lawmakers have held multiple hearings demanding answers from Scruggs on the circumstances surrounding Martinez’ death and safety measures planned to prevent another from happening. One lawmaker called her responses to their questions “woefully inadequate.”

Del. Jared Solomon and Sen. Benjamin Kramer are co-sponsoring the Davis Martinez Public Employee Safety and Health Act. The measure would add workplace safety standards for public employers. Both Montgomery County Democrats work on labor-related issues in the General Assembly.

The bill would create a new unit in the Maryland Department of Labor responsible for inspecting the safety protections for public workers while they do jobs, including those, like Martinez, who perform their jobs outside of an office.

The Public Employees’ Safety and Health Unit could cite and fine public employers who violate the regulations and employees would receive reports on their findings by email.

The bill also requires the state to create workplace violence prevention standards.

Agencies can be fined for failing to uphold safety standards established by the unit, and public officials who knowingly falsify safety records can be held personally accountable.

Solomon said the bill will assign accountability standards to the public sector that already exists in private industry. There’s not enough focus on safety for public employees, he said, “Clearly, what we have right now is not working,” acknowledging the deaths of the two public employees.

Kramer called the deaths a “tragedy,” and said he was “very disappointed” when he learned of the lack of protections for workers.

Public employees are often undervalued by the public and by their employers, and the bill aims to ensure their safety, highlight their value and boost morale, he said.

In an email, a Maryland Department of Labor spokesperson said they are reviewing the bill and “will continue to work with all invested stakeholders to protect the health and safety of Maryland’s workers.”

The spokesperson added that the Maryland Occupational Safety and Health, under the labor department, has jurisdiction over public sector employers in state and local governments and issues citations when health and safety violations are found.

The Maryland Department of Public Safety and Corrections Services does not comment on pending legislation, according to a department spokesperson.