A Chicago-area ex-Marine stabbed to death outside a Boston bar. “My brother was a beautiful person. My life is forever changed without him.

Daniel Martinez bonded closely with his fellow Marines during a four-year stint in the military.

After his tour ended last fall, the Chicago native traveled frequently to visit his friends. Last weekend, he traveled to Boston to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with some of them.

“He was really excited to go there to an Irish pub for St. Patrick’s Day” with his friends, his older sister Micaela Martinez said. “He went out of his way to spend time with them. They were his brothers. »

But the Saturday night celebration turned deadly after an argument with a bouncer, who allegedly chased Martinez after refusing him entry and fatally stabbing him.

Alvaro Larrama, 38, faces a murder charge for stabbing outside the Sons of Boston bar on Union Street, according to Suffolk County prosecutors.

Martinez, 23, and his friend lined up outside the bar and had a brief chat with Larrama before they were refused entry, prosecutors said. As Martinez and his friend walked away, Larrama allegedly chased him with a knife.

Surveillance video shows Martinez defending himself, raising his hand and smashing an aluminum beer bottle over the bouncer’s head, prosecutors said. Larrama allegedly stabbed Martinez once in his chest.

Larrama’s colleagues took him back to the bar, where the bouncer went to the bathroom and washed his hands, threw away his sweatshirt and turned his shirt inside out, prosecutors said. He would have left through a rear exit.

Larrama surrendered on Monday morning and was denied bail during a court hearing.

“The grief for Mr. Martinez’s family, and for all who knew and served with him, is incalculable,” District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “It’s also heartbreaking for Boston because it portrays an image of the city that doesn’t really reflect who we are.”

Martinez’s mother said she was struggling to get over the shock of losing her son so suddenly. Her son’s friends in the Marine Corps are “tormented to lose him,” said Apolonia Martinez. “They can’t understand what happened. Especially after spending four years with him in daily danger.

She said her son’s fellow Marines contacted her to express their condolences. “His father and I were unaware of the extent of the friends he had and how heartbroken they were. It speaks to my son’s character and his love.

Daniel Martinez grew up in the Gage Park neighborhood, living above a funeral home where his father worked until he was 5, his sister said. Her parents moved the family to northwest Indiana because they wanted their children to grow up in the suburbs and attend a Christian school, Micaela Martinez said.

After graduating from high school, Daniel Martinez enlisted in the Marine Corps and rose to the rank of Sergeant. Martinez served with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, a Marine Corps spokesperson said. His most recent assignment was with the 3rd Assault Amphibious Battalion, 1st Marine Division, at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Boot camp was an ordeal — a tear gas chamber, survival tests — but Martinez came out of it stronger, his sister said. “Training camp was tough and really pushed him to his limits. It was transformative for him. It really showed him that he had courage.

Martinez bonded with his fellow soldiers, his sister said. “He went out of his way to spend time with them. He had not forgotten them.

Martinez was excited about his trip to Boston because of his interest in Irish culture, his sister said. “He loved Irish culture because he was a fan of Conor McGregor.”

Martinez loved the boxer so much he got a life-size cardboard cutout of McGregor. Micaela Martinez said she was still sometimes surprised by the cutout which still hangs in her bedroom at her mother’s home in Crown Point.

Released from the Marines in September, Martinez returned to his father’s home in Palos Hills to assist his father’s undertakers in Little Village and near Midway. “He wanted to be close to my dad to work with him,” she said.

Daniel Martinez had a sense of humor and was “silly” and “goofy” at times, his sister said. He enjoyed watching movies and shows with his siblings, including sitcoms like “The Office,” “King of Queens,” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

His favorite show was “The Sopranos,” and he convinced his family to watch it too. “When he first finished it, he said it was really hard for him because he had to go back and see it again,” his sister said.

Daniel Martinez loved skiing, which he had discovered in the Marines, and took an early interest in photography. Martinez learned to use computer software to edit footage he took of his friends skiing and shared the videos on social media. “He was editing them, putting effects on them and getting creative with videography,” his sister said.

Martinez wanted to study film production at Columbia College, her sister said. “He wanted to go to school. He found a passion” with the video, she said.

Daniel Martinez was a generous person and once donated a jacket to a homeless man in San Diego, his sister said.

He brought people together and had hosted a Thanksgiving meal with his fellow soldiers who were also unable to see their families that day. “He coordinated their stay at an Airbnb and ordered the catering,” Micaela Martinez said. “He wanted everyone to feel like they were having a real Thanksgiving despite not being able to go home for the holidays.

“My brother was a beautiful person. My life is forever changed without him,” his sister said.

The viewing is scheduled for 4 p.m. April 1 at the Martinez Funeral Home, 5800 W. 63rd St. The funeral is scheduled for April 2 at Chapel Hills Gardens in Oak Lawn.