Ex-husband, two others plead not guilty to woman’s murder

Three men, including Adela Gonzalez Martinez’s ex-husband, are accused of causing her death on Nov. 2, 2020. The man have been charged with capital murder and other charges.

During the early morning hours of Nov. 2, 2020, Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez arrived at his ex-wife Adela Gonzalez Martinez’s home on Dana Avenue in Brownsville.

Authorities said Rodriguez went to Gonzalez Martinez’s apartment between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. to drop off their two children.

Upon arriving at her apartment at the 2200 block of Dana Avenue, Rodriguez noticed the door to her residence was open and he called police, said investigator Martin Sandoval, spokesman for the Brownsville Police Department.

The call to police came in as a welfare concern — when a citizen calls for police to respond in reference to safety and health concerns.

Police found Gonzalez Martinez dead with a gunshot to the head. Crime scene and criminal investigators were sent to the location, Sandoval said, and her death was determined by investigators to be a homicide.

She was 39 years old.

Now, according to grand jury indictments and criminal charges, investigators allege that the ex-husband hired two men to kill the mother of his children.

Because the crime remains under investigation and has yet to go to trial, authorities have released sparse information about the case. It has not yet been revealed as to whether Gonzalez Martinez was actually killed inside her apartment or if she was shot somewhere else and her body taken back to her home. A motive for her killing is also unknown. The men charged in her death are refusing to talk, police said.

Victoria Cisneros, spokeswoman for the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office, said no comment can be made by the prosecutor’s office because the case is pending.

Rodriguez and suspects Charly Angel Carrillo Torres and Jonathan Xavier Roman Martinez are each charged with murder in Gonzalez Martinez’s death. Rodriguez is also charged with two counts of criminal solicitation.

All three of the men have pleaded not guilty.

Local, state and federal authorities arrested the men in March. Rodriguez was arrested in Brownsville, and Carrillo-Torres and Roman Martinez were arrested in San Antonio, according to authorities.

The Brownsville Herald on April 4, 2021 filed an open records request with the Brownsville Police Department seeking a copy of the police report/incident related to the case. The department forwarded the request to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for an opinion as to whether or not to release the information. The AG’s Office ruled that the department needed to release only the basic information.

The case against the three men was presented to a Cameron County grand jury, which indicted the suspects on April 7, 2021, and charged them with murdering Gonzalez Martinez.

According to the indictments, the charges are as follows:

>> Rodriguez: Capital murder while remuneration, burglary of habitation with intent to commit other felony, and solicitation to commit capital murder.

>> Carrillo Torres: Capital murder while remuneration and burglary of habitation with intent to commit other felony.

>> Roman Martinez: Capital murder while remuneration and burglary of habitation with intent to commit other felony.

According to the indictments, Rodriguez is alleged to have employed Carrillo Torres and Roman Martinez to kill his ex-wife.

“(Rodriguez) On 2nd day of November 2020, and anterior to the presentment of this indictment, in the County of Cameron and State of Texas, did then and there intentionally or knowingly cause the death of an individual, namely, Adela Gonzalez Martinez, by employing Charly Angel Carrillo Torres, A/K/A Charly Angel Carrillo Torres and Jonathan Xavier Roman Martinez A/K/A Jonathan Xavier Roman for remuneration of the promise of remuneration, to-wit: U.S. Currency, from Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez A/K/A Jose Rodriguez to murder Adela Gonzalez Martinez, and pursuant to said agreement, the said Charly Angel Carrillo Torres A/K/A Charly Angel Carillo Torres and Jonathan Xavier Roman Martinez A/K/A Jonathan Xavier Roman did then and there intentionally or knowingly cause the death of Adela Gonzalez Martinez by shooting Adela Gonzalez Martinez in the head with a firearm,” the indictment reads.

Court documents indicate that Jose Arnoldo and Adela filed for divorce on June 29, 2016 and that divorce was granted June 12, 2017.

Attorneys Ernesto Gamez Jr. and Erin Gamez have been appointed to represent Rodriguez. On Thursday, Erin Gamez said they are still in the discovery process of the case and that her client pleaded not guilty to the charges. Although the case is scheduled to go to trial in September, Erin Gamez believes it will likely get rescheduled because of the ongoing COVID-19 protocols.

Attorney Ed K. Cyganiewicz, has been appointed to represent Roman Martinez. Cyganiewicz on Thursday said he could not say a lot about the case.

“My client denies being involved in any wrongdoing and we are preparing for trial,” Cyganiewicz said.

Roman Martinez has also pleaded not guilty to the capital murder while remuneration and burglary of habitation charges filed against him.

Attorney Nathaniel C. Perez Jr. has been appointed to represent Carrillo Torres but declined to comment. Court documents state that Carrillo Torres has also entered a not-guilty plea.

Rodriguez, Carrillo Torres and Roman Martinez remain in custody at the Cameron County jails on various bonds.

According to court records, their trial date is scheduled for Sept. 27 before 103rd state District Court Judge Janet Leal.


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