A 29-year-old former Auburn man faces charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm for a shooting in April 2017 near a Kent service station.
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Ricardo B. Martinez, aka Ricardo Martinez Perez, on Monday, April 12. Martinez, who reportedly fled to Oklahoma and then to Mexico after the shooting, is scheduled to be arraigned on April 26 at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. He is custody at a federal prison in California on a federal probation warrant.
Prosecutors requested a $5 million bail to ensure Martinez doesn’t flee the country again and to protect the public, according to charging documents.
Roberto Matamoros Izaguirre, 17, died from a single gunshot wound that struck him in the neck and passed through his body, according to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office. A 16-year-old boy was injured by a shot to the neck during the same shooting at about 12:16 a.m. on April 18, 2017 behind the 76 station, 1513 W. Meeker St.
Kent Police initially reported the shooting as a gang-related dispute. According to charging papers, Martinez apparently also was upset that Izaguirre was dating the same female as him.
Detectives used video surveillance to track down a Dodge truck reportedly used in the shooting that led them to a house in Auburn. Martinez had lived at the home but wasn’t present when police arrived. The truck also had been seen before and after the shooting at a home in the Bonel Trailer Park, 24415 64th Ave. S.
Police found gang “tagging” inside the trailer home with references to gang names and dates of killings on April 11, 2017. The spray-painted taggings inside the trailer matched taggings on the back of the Sea Mar building near the 76 station shooting.
Kent detectives used cellphone records to track Martinez to Oklahoma. Two detectives traveled to Oklahoma City and spoke with an aunt and uncle of Martinez. They confirmed Martinez arrived there April 21, 2017 but left two days later for Texas and eventually made it to Mexico to live.
Detectives searched the car Martinez drove to Oklahoma and found a cellphone in the truck that belonged to Martinez. The cellphone included photos of the Bonel Trailer Park, graffiti at the Sea Mar clinic , selfie photos of Martinez in the trailer and a photo of another subject with a rifle that uses the same caliber of ammunition used in the Kent shooting.
The phone also had text messages from Martinez that read, “Baby, I shot someone.”
A break in finding Martinez came on May 21, 2020 when local police in Aguascalientes, Mexico arrested Martinez for resisting arrest and assaulting an officer. During local police contact with Martinez, he apparently told them he was a gang member in the United States and threatened to kill them. He said he had killed two people in the U.S.
The U.S. Marshals Service had been looking for Martinez for a federal probation warrant issued Jan. 13, 2017. Mexican law officers alerted U.S. authorities after arresting Martinez and eventually he was deported to the U.S. where marshals took him into federal custody.
According to court documents, Martinez has three state convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm in 2010, a federal conviction for firearms violations in 2012, twice had his federal probation revoked for violations of terms in 2016 and 2020; and juvenile convictions for arson in 2005 and domestic violence assault in 2008.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
