On a Thursday afternoon, May 28, 2020, in a quiet West Valley City neighborhood near 2900 South and 3000 West, 39-year-old Hispanic male Melvin Martinez was busy with a construction job at a residence. He had been hired for work at this particular home on several previous occasions. The homeowners alerted police around 4 p.m. when they found Martinez had collapsed, bleeding from a wound.
Initially, there was confusion about the cause of his injury, with some speculating it could have been an accident with a nail gun or another piece of equipment.
First responders soon realized that Martinez had not been the victim of a workplace accident, but rather had been shot. An investigation was launched, and detectives quickly zeroed in on a potential suspect who lived next door to the property where Martinez was working. It was reported that this neighbor had previously been upset and had complained about the noise generated by the construction project.
The day after the fatal shooting, just before noon, police located and arrested 30-year-old Jesus Valdez near 1700 W. Indiana Ave. in Salt Lake City. Authorities stated that Valdez was suspected of shooting Martinez and then hiding the weapon before fleeing the scene. Valdez was initially booked into jail on a parole violation while the homicide investigation continued.
