In the early hours of September 6, 2026, a weekend trip to Charlotte, North Carolina, for a soccer game and a hockey match ended in tragedy for 33-year-old Manuel De Jesus Martinez. A former Greensboro police officer, Martinez was shot and killed shortly before 4 a.m. in the 700 block of West Trade Street in Uptown Charlotte, near Johnson & Wales University. Emergency services responded to a call for an assault with a deadly weapon and found Martinez with apparent gunshot wounds.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene. Martinez, who had served with the Greensboro Police Department for four years before leaving in 2022, was remembered by friends as a kind soul who was always smiling and fun to be around.
The investigation into Martinez's death quickly led authorities to a suspect. Detectives with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department identified 36-year-old Tyrell Deshawn Valentine as the individual responsible for the shooting. On September 7, 2026, Valentine was located and arrested without incident in Union County, South Carolina, by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Union County Sheriff's Office, in coordination with CMPD's Violent Criminal Apprehension Team. He was subsequently charged with murder in connection with Martinez's death.
Following his arrest in South Carolina, Valentine was extradited to Mecklenburg County and booked into the county jail. According to arrest documents that later emerged, the fatal encounter began with a fight between Valentine and a friend of Martinez's. Investigators stated that Valentine left the apartment where the initial altercation occurred, only to return approximately 45 minutes later armed with a gun. Another fight broke out, during which Valentine allegedly shot Martinez multiple times. As the case proceeds through the legal system, the investigation remains active and ongoing.
