Update for Sept. 27
21-year-old Chatri Thip was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Sept. 23 for the beating death of Bernard Ray Martin at Roxhill Park on Sept. 21, 2010.

Thip pleaded guilty to a second-degree murder charge in July.

Original post from July 25
The defendant in 40-year-old Bernard Martin’s murder at West Seattle’s Roxhill Park on Sept. 21, 2010 has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

21-year-old Chatri Thip entered his guilty plea on July 20 after initially pleading not guilty in October 2010. His sentencing is scheduled for September 23 and King County Prosecutors have recommended the lower range of sentencing at 134 months – just over 11 years in prison.

According to court documents, Thip and his associates were drinking alcohol stolen from the Roxbury Safeway at Roxhill Park when Martin approached the group of strangers and asked for a beer. Thip told police he punched Martin, knocking him down. He proceeded to jump repeatedly from a small wall onto Martin’s torso, and then repeatedly slammed a shopping cart into his midsection. Autopsy results show Martin died from blunt force trauma causing massive rib fractures that stopped his breathing.

What follows is the transcript from Thip’s acknowledgement of his crime (broken down into paragraphs for clarity):

On September 21, 2010, I spent time with some individuals that I knew from the neighborhood. Two of the individuals present were half-brothers. I had a romantic relationship with their sister and she became pregnant. Her brothers were angry with me as a result of my impregnating their sister and they assaulted me on the night of September 21, 2010.

All individuals present that evening were united in their relationships either through gang affiliation, familial ties, or romantic partners of the individuals that assaulted me. Because I was outnumbered and in a hostile atmosphere, I believe this became an aggression-laden environment.

While committing and attempting ... (the assault upon Martin) I did together with another cause the death on or about September 21, 2010 … of Bernard Ray Martin, a human being, who was not a participant in the crime. Mr. Martin did nothing to provoke the assault. Nevertheless, I believe I committed this crime under duress, coercion, threat or compulsion from the individuals I was associating with at the park.

I acknowledge that duress, coercion, threat or compulsion is not a defense to a homicide charge … but I believe those factors significantly affected my conduct.

I committed the crime of murder in the second degree during a period of time intervening between September 21, 2010 through September 22, 2010 in King County, Wa.

Here is a link to prior Herald coverage of Martin's murder:
Arrest made in Roxhill murder case; Victim beaten to death