A jury in downtown El Paso on Tuesday, Feb. 24, sentenced Rene Martinez to 90 years in prison after finding him guilty of murder and a collision involving death in a September 2024 hit-and-run. The victim, 23-year-old Juan Flores Jr., suffered severe head trauma and later died at a local hospital. Prosecutors said the late-night confrontation on North Zaragoza Road that started as a fight turned into a deliberate vehicle assault.
The punishment broke down to 70 years and a $10,000 fine for the murder conviction, plus 20 years and another $10,000 for the collision-involving-death charge, for a total of 90 years and $20,000, according to KVIA. The jury had returned guilty verdicts the previous Friday, and the trial was held in the 346th District Court in downtown El Paso.
Initial arrest and scene
Police first responded to a crash on the 1400 block of North Zaragoza Road on Sept. 30, 2024. The case quickly shifted from a routine traffic call to a violent-crime investigation after officers and detectives began treating the collision as deliberate and charged Martinez in the days that followed, as reported in coverage of the suspected vehicle assault, per Hoodline. The El Paso Special Traffic Investigations unit took over once authorities concluded they were not dealing with an ordinary wreck.
What jurors heard
During the trial, prosecutors walked jurors through surveillance video from a nearby business that showed two groups fighting in a parking lot around 2 a.m., with one group heading toward a Ford Fusion and others throwing what appeared to be a rock, according to KVIA. Investigators identified Martinez as the driver. After briefly driving away, he turned back toward the crowd, accelerated, and hit Flores. Flores landed on the hood, was thrown off, and later died from severe head injuries at the hospital.
Testimony also included a woman who was 37 weeks pregnant, telling police that Martinez assaulted her after she confronted him. The defense called Martinez’s ex-wife and a family member to the stand, while prosecutors questioned him about a prior 2018 DWI. After the sentence was handed down, family members of Flores were scheduled to deliver victim impact statements in the courtroom on Tuesday afternoon.
The verdict wraps up the trial phase but does not necessarily close the legal book on the case. Defense attorneys can still file post-trial motions or pursue an appeal. For now, Martinez faces decades in state custody, and the lengthy sentence brings a measure of legal closure to Flores’ family and the neighbors who watched the case unfold.
