Murder case hangs in limbo; Ex-husband could receive death in capital case

LEFT: Adela Gonzalez Martinez RIGHT: Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez

The Cameron County District Attorney’s Office will make a decision on Nov. 15 whether or not it will seek the death penalty against a Brownsville man accused in the Nov. 2, 2020 shooting death of his ex-wife Adela Gonzalez Martinez.

According to court documents, a Nov. 15, pre-trial motions hearing has been scheduled before 138th state District Judge Gabriela Garcia where the DA’s office is expected to announce whether or not it will seek the death penalty against Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez. It’s unknown if the death penalty will be sought against Charly Angel Carillo Torres as well. Rodriguez is Adela’s ex-husband.

Court documents filed on Oct. 18, reveal that the DA’s office will not seek the death penalty against a third suspect, Jonathan Xavier Roman Martinez.

According to a Brownsville Police Department incident report, Jose Arnoldo Rodriguez arrived at his ex-wife Adela Gonzalez Martinez’s home on Dana Avenue in Brownsville between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2020, to drop off their two children. His mother and the children were with him.

In the report, Rodriguez states he tried to call his ex-wife several times but she never answered the phone.

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.

According to the incident report, police found Gonzalez Martinez laying on the bed with her legs falling to the right side of it. An officer identified in the report as “Officer Silva” tried to wake her up but she did not move.

Another officer identified as “Officer Goodrich” saw that a pillow had been placed on Gonzalez Martinez’s face.

“Officer Silva then removed the pillow from her face and I (Officer Goodrich) observed that Adela had swelling and bruising on the right side of her face. I observed the pillow to have a circular blood stain. I also observed that Adela had a cranial caving in the center top portion of her head,” the report reads.

The report states the apartment was checked, nothing seemed out of place and that it was organized and clean.

EMS personnel were dispatched to the scene and after they checked Gonzalez Martinez they said she was dead and the time was 3:02 a.m., the reports read. Cameron County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2, Place 3 Mary Esther Sorola was called and shortly after her arrival she ordered an autopsy on Gonzalez Martinez. She was pronounced dead at 3:50 a.m. Soon after crime scene investigators arrived.

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.

A motive for her killing is unknown. The men charged in her death are refusing to talk, police said.

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

All three men have pleaded not guilty.

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

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


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