00:00He woke up this morning and
00:04it's not as bright as it used to be.
00:07Days before a funeral service,
00:09family members remembering a South Bay teenager
00:12shot to death by a customer while he was working at Walmart.
00:16His mother tells ABC 10 News reporter Michael Chen
00:19her son was defending himself
00:22when the customer pulled out a gun and shot him.
00:25For several months,
00:26Guion Martin had been working at this Chula Vista Walmart
00:28collecting cards and he loved his job.
00:30But on that Tuesday night, as his shift was wrapping up,
00:34an encounter with a customer would end with his death.
00:37He was my only son and the baby.
00:4018-year-old Guion Martin says his mother was a proud nerd,
00:43an aspiring entrepreneur who lit up a room.
00:46For privacy reasons, she asked us not to show her face.
00:49I woke up this morning and
00:53it's not as bright as it used to be.
00:56Police say two weeks ago, around 10.30 p.m.,
00:58a customer, 32-year-old Thomas Perez,
01:01was involved in a fight with Martin in the parking lot
01:04when Perez reached for his gun and shot Martin.
01:07Perez then called 911 and turned himself in.
01:09Martin's mother says, according to prosecutors,
01:12there is surveillance video of the incident.
01:14An argument happening, the man punched my son.
01:19My son stumbled, got up, and defended himself.
01:23Guess maybe my son was overpowering him at that point.
01:26Took out a gun and shot him.
01:28And the way that he shot him was,
01:29it looks like through the back, close range.
01:33Police say Martin was rushed to a hospital
01:35where he passed away.
01:36I'm still hoping to wake up from the nightmare.
01:40Martin's mother says her son was a track star at Chula Vista High
01:43before graduating last year.
01:45She says he was also a vocabulary buff.
01:47He used to read the dictionary for fun,
01:50teach me new words.
01:52He was hoping to start his own e-commerce business.
01:54She says he loved his job at Walmart
01:56because he loved talking to people.
01:58She has no doubt her son was defending himself.
02:01He would always say chillax, you know.
02:04He would read books of meditation.
02:05He was not a fighter.
02:06When it comes to the man accused of taking her son's life,
02:09there is one overwhelming feeling.
02:11All I feel is envy.
02:13His family is going to get closure,
02:14get to give his last goodbyes.
02:17Several days after the shooting,
02:18Perez pleading not guilty to murder charges.
02:21I would like justice for murdering my son.
02:24Michael Chen, ABC 10 News.
02:25Thanks for having me.
