Authorities on Monday arrested Charles Martinez, 43, and his son Hevon Martinez, 17, in connection with the July murder of Chrystal Snow.
Hevon Martinez, who was already in custody on unrelated charges, will be tried as an adult, CBI officials said in a news release Monday. Charles Martinez was arrested in Cortez and taken to the Archuleta County Detention Center.
Snow, who was the mother of Hevon Martinez, was found dead in her home on July 2. Archuleta County Sheriff’s deputies had responded to an emergency call from her phone and arrived to discover she had been fatally shot at her home at 1081 County Road 700, west of Pagosa Springs.
During a July 10 court hearing, it was revealed that law enforcement considered Hevon Martinez to be a suspect in his mother’s death early in the investigation. What followed was a nearly four-month investigation during which CBI declined to formally name a suspect or persons of interest.
Based on an arrest affidavit, CBI agents believe Snow attempted to flee to the home’s primary bathroom where she was confronted by one of the suspects and shot multiple times. The affidavit didn’t specify which suspect fired the gun.
A spent .40 caliber cartridge casing was found on the floor near the victim. Blood was found on the front doorknob, the home’s entryway floor and on a bedspread in the master bedroom. DNA testing excluded Charles Martinez as a match for those blood droplets.
On July 7, Hevon Martinez was in 22nd Judicial District Court in Cortez for allegedly possessing a firearm unlawfully and reportedly firing a .45-caliber handgun at a vehicle during a Fourth of July activities in Cortez.
CBI obtained messages between Snow and Charles Martinez that revealed Snow had attempted to gain full custody of one of the sons. The affidavit said there had been a history of domestic violence between Snow and Charles Martinez.
One of Snow’s neighbors reported hearing gunshots on July 2 at around 2:20 a.m. The neighbor told CBI that he looked out his bedroom window to find a vehicle driving away from Snow’s residence at a high rate of speed.
The neighbor reported seeing two individual in the vehicle.
On July 3, Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office Detective Tomas Parker, along with other deputies, assisted with a welfare check at a residence located at 4337 U.S. Highway 160-491 where they made contact with Charles Martinez.
CBI conducted a follow up interview with William Martinez, father of Charles and owner of the residence at 4337 U.S. Highway 160-491. The affidavit said Charles and Hevon Martinez were residing at the property the night of July 1.
William Martinez told investigators that he left the home about 10 p.m. and that Charles and Hevon were still at the residence.
Video surveillance camera footage from Antique Coral in Cortez showed a white 2016 Ford Explorer, registered to a Mary Martinez, driving eastbound on Highway 160-491 from Martinez’s residence in Cortez at 12:14 a.m.
Law enforcement was able to identify Charles and Hevon Martinez inside the white Explorer in multiple surveillance videos.
At 1:42 a.m., the Explorer was seen on camera heading east on Highway 160 at Pine River Pawn, located at 42456 U.S. Highway 160 in Bayfield. Archuleta County received a call from Snow at 2:32 a.m., and 25 minutes later, surveillance footage from Pine River Pawn showed the white Ford Explorer heading west on Highway 160.
Surveillance camera footage at Antique Coral shows white Explorer returning to the Martinez residence at around 4:13 a.m. on July 2. Agents were able to confirm that it was same vehicle based on its unique bra and because the vehicle’s taillights were not operational.
Interviews conducted with Snow’s domestic violence victim advocate with Rise Above Violence, a victim advocacy group in Archuleta County, revealed that Snow feared Charles Martinez would kill her.
The advocate told law enforcement that Charles Martinez had previously threatened to kill her in the middle of the night.
tbrown@durangoherald.com
