‘Acting like gangsters’: TV star’s son jailed for life over a fake drug deal that resulted in the death of a 17yo boy

Jaden Martinovich, the son of an Aerobics Oz Style star, has been jailed for life over the murder of a 17-year old boy who was stabbed during a fake drug deal.

The son of Aerobics Oz Style star Kelly Martinovich has been jailed for life over the murder of a 17-year-old boy who was stabbed in the heart during a fake drug deal.

Jaden Martinovich, 21, pleaded guilty in the WA Supreme Court to killing a 17-year old boy in 2022. He will need to serve a minimum of 14 years, backdated to when he was taken into custody on August 30, 2022, before he is eligible for parole.

During sentencing, Justice Bruno Fiannaca said the teen’s death was the tragic outcome of foolish, reckless decisions by two young men intent on acting like gangsters.

The court was told Martinovich and boy were both armed with a knife when they met over a fake drug deal in August 2022.

Martinovich planned on selling the teen fake drugs, but the victim found out and hatched a plan to steal Martinovich’s car at the meeting.

Jaden Martinovich, 21, was sentenced to 14 years in prison over the murder of a 17-year old teen who was stabbed when he tried to steal his car during a fake drug deal.

“Unsurprisingly, the situation became violent,” Justice Fiannaca said.

“In the course of that violence, you stabbed him to the heart. He subsequently died from that injury.”

The court was told, Martinovich drove his parents’ Mazda 3 hatchback with two teenage friends inside aged 17 and 14 to a Bourke St car park in North Perth on August 27, 2022.

Martinovich was 18 years old at the time and planned to meet the teen to sell him fake drugs.

His 17-year old friend told him he knew someone looking to buy drugs, but the friend never disclosed he knew the victim.

Martinovich bagged bath salts to pass off as dimethyltryptamine (DMT) to deceive the victim, while his friend told the teen the drugs were fake and the two hatched a plan to steal Martinovich’s car in revenge.

When the young men met at the car park Martinovich got out of the car and the teen jumped in the driver’s seat after swinging a claw hammer at him.

Jaden Martinovich planned to sell the victim fake drugs, but he found out and in retaliation hatched a plan to steal Martinovich’s car. Picture: Facebook

The teen yelled at the 14-year old boy to get out of the car and attempted to drive off but the park brake was engaged and he only got 20m away before Martinovich caught up with him.

Martinovich tried to pull the victim out of the car but he managed to drive onto Bourke St but the car stopped again, where Martinovich opened the driver’s door and stabbed the victim in the chest.

Nearby residents found him slumped over in the car and took him to hospital, but he never regained consciousness and died several days later despite medical help.

Dashcam footage recorded Martinovich shortly after the incident saying to his 14-year old friend inside the car, ‘You can’t kill a c**t with the stab I gave him,” and, “If you f**k with me, you get f**king stabbed, all right?”

“I m going to f**king sleep like a baby tonight, knowing I f**king plunged a knife into some c**t’s vital organs. That s f**king awesome. I love doing that.”

During sentencing, Justice Bruno Fiannaca said Jaden Martinovich had tried to project a gangster-like persona. Picture: Facebook

After he dropped the boy home, Martinovich says to himself, “That’s called a f**king wake-up call, Jaden. You stupid idiot. You stupid, dimwitted, f**king moron. What do you want? 250 smackeroos. Well, unfortunately, now you have committed a felony by stabbing someone.”

Justice Fiannaca said his statements reflected a rollercoaster of emotions and bravado for what he had done.

“You were angry about having been drawn into the criminal enterprise” he said.

“You were projecting a tough guy or gangster-like persona to impress on the boy that this is what happens if someone messes with you.”

Justice Fiannaca said his comments showed a callous disregard for the wellbeing of the victim.

Originally published as ‘Acting like gangsters’: TV star’s son jailed for life over a fake drug deal that resulted in the death of a 17yo boy