Jovannie Boogie Gonzalez-Martinez, a 20-year-old male, tragically lost his life on August 2, 2018, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Gonzalez-Martinez was found lying in the parking lot of the Cambridge Apartment complex on North Cherry Street at approximately 5:15 a.m. He had been shot in the chest and was subsequently taken to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.
The investigation revealed that Gonzalez-Martinez was visiting his close friend, Jassy
Salinas-Vargas, who was living at 605 apartment D W. 23rd Street with his live-in girlfriend and one child. On the morning of the incident, the two friends went outside on the staircase landing and were negligently handling a shotgun. Salinas-Vargas fired the shotgun, striking Gonzalez-Martinez in the chest. Salinas-Vargas was charged with involuntary manslaughter and taken into police custody on a warrant for felony speeding to elude in an unrelated matter. He was held in the Forsyth County Law Enforcement Detention Center and was scheduled to appear in court on January 4.
Salinas-Vargas later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Forsyth County Superior Court. He admitted that the pair had been drinking and that Gonzalez-Martinez had a gun. The gun went off during a struggle, resulting in Gonzalez-Martinez's death. Salinas-Vargas faced a prison sentence of one to two years.
