Hannah Marie Martin, left, speaks with her lawyers, Lisa Greif, right, and Rachel Pavlich, far right, during jury selection of her murder trial in Jackson County Circuit Court on Tuesday. 

A Medford woman was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally stabbing another woman in 2022.

Hannah Marie Martin, 23, received her sentence for the murder of Brittany Laine Lovrovich, 31, following a four-day jury trial in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Although the jury found Martin guilty of second-degree murder for intentionally stabbing Lovrovich on March 22, 2022, the panel found her not guilty on a single count of first-degree robbery and an additional count of second-degree murder that prosecutors sought because they believed Martin killed Lovrovich in the course of a robbery over fentanyl.

Martin sat stoically as the verdict was read by Judge Laura Cromwell and initially declined to make remarks.

However, as the parties in the courtroom were departing at the conclusion of the sentencing, she shared a poem she penned that one of her attorneys, Rachel Pavlich, read aloud. The poem, called “Blue-eyed tear drops,” was lauded by members of Lovrovich’s family as they left the courtroom. 

Joan Broadfoot, Lovrovich’s mother, who spoke at the sentencing, told the Rogue Valley Times outside the courthouse she was surprised Martin offered some form of remarks even if she could not say them herself. 

“I understand, but I’m not sympathetic,” Broadfoot said.

Asked about the verdict and sentencing, she said, “We got what we we wanted. We got justice.”

The poem was the first bit of emotion the family had seen from Martin, who decided to be sentenced on the same day as the verdict was read. 

Martin’s co-counsel, Lisa Greif, said there was “nothing I can say” that would change her client’s sentence, but she hoped “everyone can find some peace.”

Cromwell called the killing “a horrific tragedy” and said Martin has a duty to “make things right” in prison, including not associating with inmates who could be a bad influence on her.

Prosecutors said what Martin did was part of “a plan to use force in a robbery,” which occurred in the early hours of the morning between OK Market and Rumors Karaoke on Riverside Avenue in Medford.

Martin’s defense attorneys argued that what she did was a reaction to “a violent drug dealer who is 3 inches taller, at least 20 pounds heavier and 10 years older than she was,” Martin’s co-counsel, Rachel Pavlich, told jurors in her opening statement on Monday.

Martin had a friend, Kyle Andrew Dean Adams, 40, who prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed was a drug dealer and became upset the day before the murder when he suspected Lovrovich stole some of his belongings, including fentanyl.

Adams and his friend, Zackary Carl Helwagen, 32 — who was also Martin’s boyfriend — came up with a plan to recover Adams’ property. In the middle of it all, Martin became “the controlled 21-year-old, middleman patsy,” Pavlich said. 

Martin had been communicating with Lovrovich in the moments leading up to the stabbing, and they agreed Martin would meet Lovrovich in her car, Pavlich and Senior Deputy District Attorney Michael Cohen said in their opening statements.

While Adams did not want violence used to get his belongings back, Helwagen had “other plans,” which included Martin being instructed to “poke” Lovrovich if she does not cooperate,  Cohen said.

Martin was “on high alert” and reacted when Lovrovich reached for something in the back of her car, Pavlich said. That’s when Lovrovich was stabbed before collapsing and dying moments later.

The murder weapon was never located, Greif said during the trial. Jurors also saw surveillance footage leading up to the murder, but it did not show the stabbing.

On Thursday, the state rested its case against Martin, and Greif made a motion to have her client acquitted. Cromwell denied the motion and the trial continued. 

The defense called Medford police Det. Corey Schwab, who said Martin was “not on my radar” before March 2022, while Adams and Lovrovich were.

Teresa Devitt-Lynch, a forensic nurse, provided analysis on Lovrovich’s stab wound and an injury on one of Martin’s wrist following the murder.

Jurors also heard from one of Martin’s former neighbors, who described her as a good worker and tenant on his Applegate property. He also said he was not aware of Martin’s drug use. 

Helwagen, who has pleaded not guilty two counts of second-degree murder and one count of robbery, is scheduled to go to trial Sept. 9.

Jackson County District Attorney Beth Heckert said she did not want to comment on Martin’s conviction and sentencing because Helwagen still awaits trial.