TOOELE COUNTY, Utah, Sept. 6, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) – Prosecutors have charged the father of a Salt Lake County Sheriff’s deputy with his daughter’s murder.
Hector Ramon Martinez-Ayala, 54, has already fled the country since the July 31 killing of Marbella Martinez, 25, according to the charges filed Friday in 3rd District Court. Her body was found the next day in the Tooele home she shared with her father.
The state Medical Examiner’s Office found Martinez was strangled, according to the documents filed by the Tooele County Attorney’s Office. Her father now faces a first-degree felony murder charge; two counts of second-degree felony obstruction of justice; stalking, a third-degree felony; and four counts of unlawful use of his daughter’s credit cards.
Key evidence cited by prosecutors include a text investigators found Martinez-Ayala allegedly sent to a family member shortly before he fled the country. “I made a big mistake, an unforgivable sin, now I’m too scared and don’t know what to do. I think I will never come back.”
Text messages also show the defendant “was becoming increasingly obsessed and controlling with the victim,” according to a probable cause statement.
The messages “are more of the nature of a jealous lover than a father. During 2024 the defendant’s behavior continued to escalate with the victim.” That included placing a tracking device on her vehicle.
Charging documents claim the father used the tracking device to locate Marbella and her partner in Bates Canyon. The probable cause statement said Marbella then stayed away from her home until returning the day she’s believed to have been murdered.
On the day of the killing, according to charging documents, Martinez-Ayala disabled security cameras in the shared home and on his way to the Salt Lake airport he discarded his daughter’s cell phone, which had video footage from the home. Officers found the phone along I-80 by the side of the road.
Martinez-Ayala flew to San Francisco, then Houston, before using “his twin brother’s identification when he landed in another country and is seen on surveillance video,” the PC statement said.
His whereabouts are currently unknown.
“Deputy Martinez was a dedicated member of our Sheriff’s Office family. In her short time with us, she became a cherished friend and an integral part of our team. Her untimely and tragic death is a profound loss for us all,” said Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera in an online testimonial Aug. 5.
Deputy Martinez was sworn in as a Corrections Officer on January 11, 2024, after completing the academy. “She quickly demonstrated her commitment and passion for serving the community.”
The four credit card transactions on his daughter’s cards are alleged in July, with one on the day of the murder, according to the allegations, which list aliases for the defendant, including Jesus Alberto Martinez-Ayala, Jesus Alberto Martinez and Jesus Martinez-Ayala.
