McAllen woman acted as lookout in Donna man’s murder, police say

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Carmen Lizeth Valdez

The McAllen woman involved in the death of a Donna resident in McAllen that occurred Monday morning “appeared to be acting as a lookout,” according to a probable cause affidavit.

Carmen Lizeth Valdez, 31, and Donna resident Nathan Antonio Germain, 30, were both charged with murder in the death of 36-year-old David Martinez, also a Donna resident. Authorities had previously said Valdez was a Donna resident but the affidavit and jail records indicate she is from McAllen.

At 10:55 a.m., McAllen police responded to the 1300 block of South 19 ½ Street after someone called to report a death in their home.

“An individual is found shot multiple times within the home. The victim died from gunshots,” police said Tuesday in a release. “The investigation finds that the reporting person, and another, are involved and face charges.”

According to the affidavit, Martinez was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds and recovered spent casings at the scene.

Detectives found video that showed Germain arriving at the scene in a white Chevrolet SUV with Valdez.

“The video shows Nathan exiting the vehicle, walking into the residence and then multiple gunshots can be heard,” the affidavit said. “The video then shows Nathan exiting the residence and leaving the scene in his vehicle with Carmen.”

During the investigation, it was learned that Germain concealed the murder weapon inside a drawer in his residence, located in the 200 block of Ortiz Circle in Donna.

Nathan Germain

It was also discovered that Valdez heard the gunshots and knew about the murder.

Text messages recovered from Valdez’s phone showed that she was texting Germain “while he was inside the residence and appeared to be acting as a lookout for Nathan,” the affidavit said.

Police later executed a search warrant and recovered what they believed to be the murder weapon due to the weapon containing unspent casings in the same caliber as the casings found at the scene.

Germain was also charged with unlawful carrying a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

After her arrest, police discovered Valdez to be in possession of a slew of narcotics and was charged for possession of controlled substances and marijuana.

Valdez and Germain remain in custody on $201,000 and $370,000 in bonds, respectively.