In a Nashville community, the life of six-year-old Cyprien Romero was cut short by a fatal shooting. The young male was pronounced dead upon his arrival at Southern Hills Medical Center, having suffered from gunshot wounds. His parents, Karen Y. Argueta, 28, and Fredy M. Martinez, 37, initially told investigators that their son was injured while playing with his brother as they were doing yard work in the Paragon Mills area.
However, they were uncooperative with detectives following this initial statement.
The investigation into the young boy's death began to unravel a different story. Conflicting information suggested the shooting may have even occurred outside of the county. A key piece of evidence was the Ford Explorer that the parents used to transport their son to the hospital. Shortly after arriving, Argueta drove the vehicle away for nearly an hour before returning. A subsequent search of the Explorer, which was registered to Argueta, uncovered a stolen semi-automatic rifle and 6.92 grams of crystal meth. Bloody bed sheets were also discovered inside the vehicle.
Through the use of GPS technology associated with the parents' vehicle, detectives were able to determine that the shooting did not happen as the parents had claimed. Instead, the evidence pointed to a motel room on Metroplex Drive in South Nashville as the actual location of the shooting. Surveillance footage from the motel captured the family there on the day of the incident. The video shows the couple in the parking lot when their eight-year-old son came out of the motel room to get them. Martinez is then seen carrying the limp body of Cyprien from the room to their vehicle.
Both Karen Argueta-Salgado and Fredy Martinez were taken into custody. They now face charges of criminal homicide, aggravated child neglect, and evidence tampering in connection with the death of their son. Prior to the homicide charges, Argueta was charged with felony meth possession and gun theft. Martinez faced charges as a fugitive from justice for a probation violation in Texas related to a burglary conviction and for felony aggravated assault for an alleged previous assault on Argueta. Investigators have stated that the parents have been deceptive and uncooperative throughout the investigation. At this stage, there is no indication that any other individuals were involved in the shooting.
