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A person accused of ambushing and fatally stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend has been extradited to Orange County to face a homicide cost after eight years on the run in Mexico, authorities mentioned.
Humberto Rodriguez Martinez, 39, is accused of working with a good friend to kill his romantic rival exterior his ex-girlfriend’s condo in 2017, in response to the Orange County district lawyer’s workplace. Martinez is a Mexican citizen and was within the U.S. illegally on the time of the killing, prosecutors mentioned.
Prosecutors charged Martinez in 2017 with the homicide of 32-year-old Daniel Reyes, in addition to with felony enhancements for allegedly mendacity in wait and for utilizing a knife. However for years police have been unable to arrest him.
Martinez’s automobile was recovered in San Diego, whereas he remained needed on a $2-million warrant.
His good friend, Adan Zapot-Leyva, was arrested two days after the assault and later sentenced to fifteen years to life after pleading responsible in 2023 to 1 felony depend of second-degree homicide.
Mexican authorities, working with the U.S. Marshals Service, tracked down Martinez in 2024 in Mexico, the place he was arrested on the request of the U.S.
On Dec. 4, he was extradited to the U.S. and murder detectives from the Anaheim Police Division took him into custody at Los Angeles Worldwide Airport. He pleaded not responsible to homicide on Tuesday and is being held with out bail.
“This arrest doesn’t undo the ache the sufferer’s household has endured, however it reinforces our dedication and promise to our group: We are going to by no means cease working till justice is served,” Anaheim Police Chief Manny Cid mentioned in a press release.
Prosecutors accuse Martinez of finishing up a deliberate, jealousy-driven homicide plot.
Martinez shared two youngsters together with his ex-girlfriend and so they have been co-parenting for a number of months after they broke up. On Oct. 17, 2017, Martinez and Zapot-Leyva went to the girl’s condo to look at the youngsters whereas she went to work, prosecutors mentioned.
She returned dwelling round 8:30 p.m. and the boys left the condo. About half-hour later, her new boyfriend arrived, prosecutors mentioned.
Early the next morning, Anaheim law enforcement officials responded to the intersection of Santa Ana and Helena streets after witnesses reported seeing two males chasing Reyes and considered one of them stabbing him. Reyes died on the scene.
Zapot-Leyva later informed authorities that he and Martinez had watched the condo for a number of hours as a result of they knew that Reyes was inside, in response to his 2023 plea settlement obtained by Metropolis Information Service.
The ex-girlfriend had known as Zapot-Leyva to ask the place he and Martinez have been and, in a “deliberate trick,” Zapot-Leyva informed her they’d left the realm hours in the past, in response to the plea settlement. The aim was to idiot Reyes into considering it was secure to exit the condo.
As soon as he did emerge, the boys chased him down and attacked him, and Martinez stabbed him 10 instances, Zapot-Leyva informed authorities, in response to the plea deal.
Reyes begged them to cease, saying “please don’t … I’ve youngsters,” in response to the plea deal.
“The pursuit of justice won’t ever be derailed by time or distance,” O.C. Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer mentioned in a press release Friday. “We’re grateful for the unimaginable work of our investigators and prosecutors and of our companions, each home and worldwide, for his or her help in monitoring down a needed [murder suspect] and bringing him again to Orange County.”
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