MODESTO (KRON) — Police on Monday said the suspect in the murders of five people whose bodies were found in a suburban Modesto home over the weekend is under arrest for the homicide of a toddler who died last October.
Martin Martinez, 30, of Modesto, was arrested in San Jose following the deaths of the five victims, including his daughter, whose bodies were found Saturday afternoon in a suburban Modesto home.
Martinez was taken into custody in San Jose at about 1 a.m. as he was walking through a mall parking lot off Blossom Hill Road with his father, according to police. He has been booked into a Santa Clara County jail on suspicion of murder.
The three young victims, whose identities have not yet been released, were described as being 6 months, 5 and 6 years old.
The two adult victims were identified as the suspect’s 57-year-old mother, Anna Brown Romero, and Amanda Crews, a physician. The infant was identified as the child of Crews and the suspect.
During the press conference, police said that Martinez was a possible a suspect in the October 2014 death of Crews’ toddler son, Christopher Ripley. Police learned last Thursday that Ripley’s death was ruled a homicide, and the case is still under investigation.
“Detectives were contacted by Child Protective Services after Christopher was admitted into an out-of-area hospital with possible brain injuries, and wasn’t expected to survive. Detectives working the case established Martinez lived in a home with Crews and her 2-year-old son, Christopher Ripley. Martinez was home alone with Christopher before he was rushed to the hospital,” said Modesto Police Department Chief Galen Carroll.
“Because of suspicions that Martinez is involved in the Nob Hill Court murders, and due to the concern for public safety, detectives sought an immediate arrest warrant of Martinez for the death of Christopher Ripley,” said Carroll.