In the early hours of September 18, 2023, Isaac Flores, a 31-year-old Hispanic man, was found shot to death in Port Arthur, Texas. His body was discovered just after 12:30 a.m. in the driveway of a home in the 1900 block of Green Avenue, a residence where he did not live. The Port Arthur Police Department immediately began a homicide investigation.
Investigators quickly developed a strong lead and identified a suspect, 48-year-old Armando Martinez-Martinez, who was also from Port Arthur.
Authorities learned that Flores and Martinez-Martinez knew each other, though a motive for the shooting was not determined. Family members of the suspect confirmed he had been with Flores just before the shooting and had driven away moments before the body was found. After the killing, Martinez-Martinez fled the area.
An alert was issued to other law enforcement agencies, and the search for the suspect ended swiftly. Just 14 hours after the shooting was reported, at 2:00 p.m. the same day, authorities in Bexar County apprehended Martinez-Martinez. Investigators believed he was heading toward the Mexican border, which was about 280 miles from Port Arthur. Deemed a flight risk, he was initially held without bond.
After an extradition hearing, Martinez-Martinez was transferred back to the Jefferson County Jail, where his bond was set at $1 million. A search of his apartment uncovered a partial box of .40 S&W ammunition, which matched the spent and live shell casings found near Flores’s body. On October 12, 2023, a Jefferson County grand jury indicted Armando Martinez-Martinez on the charge of murder. The case later concluded when Martinez-Martinez accepted a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and was sentenced to five years in prison.
