Andrea Martin case in Keene deaths and kidnappings headed for jury trial

A witness said both she and Steffy were beaten and kept inside the house during a stretch in October 2024.

Andrea Martin, 43, is scheduled to go before a jury in Cheshire County Superior Court starting Aug. 17 in a case tied to a Keene overdose death and allegations of kidnapping and abuse inside an Island Street home.

Prosecutors say Martin is responsible for the death of Justina Steffy, 31, who died at a house on Island Street in October 2024. Martin has entered not guilty pleas to five felony counts: drug sale with death resulting, trafficking, kidnapping, kidnapping with serious bodily injury and interfering with evidence. Each charge is filed under criminal liability for another person’s conduct.

Court records and testimony from a hearing last year describe a woman who said she was held against her will in Martin’s home and was forced to inject Steffy with a fatal mixture of drugs. Authorities have said the substances included fentanyl and the sedative xylazine. The same witness said both she and Steffy were beaten and kept inside the house during a stretch in October 2024.

According to that account, after Steffy died on Oct. 13, Martin and the witness placed the body in bags and abandoned it on a roadside in Warwick, Mass. Investigators later found her there.

Another person charged in the case, Christian Torruellas, faces accusations of kidnapping and trafficking related to the surviving woman. His trial is expected later this year.