Inset: Jesus Valdez Jr. Background: Body camera footage from the Utah home where Valdez murdered a handyman (West Valley City Police).
A Utah mother, her kids and their friends stumbled upon a horrifying scene when they found the body of a handyman who had been fixing up a home, body camera footage showed.
The woman said she had returned to the Salt Lake City-area home on May 28, 2020, to find the man later identified as 39-year-old Melbin “Tony” Martinez unconscious in the driveway.
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“There’s a gentleman who’s not breathing, who’s heart’s not beating in the driveway,” she told 911 dispatchers. “He’s just laying on the ground. He’s dead. I don’t feel a pulse.”
Body camera footage obtained by Law&Crime showed the woman tell an officer that she was bringing the boys to the West Valley City home from a sleepover when they saw Martinez’s body. One of the boys’ fathers said the kids were understandably upset.
“They walked up and seen the body,” the father said.
Officers did a walk through of the scene which showed blood throughout the driveway and backyard. Two officers held up a sheet to shield Martinez’s body from public view as cops investigated.
Detectives later identified the suspect: Jesus Valdez, Jr., who lived next door. He was apparently upset about the noise Martinez was making while working on the roof and shot him several times. Valdez pleaded guilty to murder in September and in October a judge sentenced him to between 15 years and life in prison.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Valdez was a Surenos 13 gang member and had an extensive criminal history that included attacking both of his parents and threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend. Local CBS affiliate KUTV reported Martinez’s family during one of Valdez’s court hearings noticed the defendant had a “187” tattoo, which is interpreted to refer to the section of California Penal Code that criminalizes murder.
Matt Naham contributed to this report
