A Bexar County woman is demanding answers after learning that the man accused of murdering her brother in 2023 had been released from custody before landing back in jail this summer, this time accused in a violent home invasion that left a homeowner shot twice. Maria Jaquez, whose brother Martin Martinez was killed in 2023, says she does not believe Nicholas Devion Sommers deserved a chance to hurt anyone else.
Martinez, 20, was found dead from a gunshot wound the morning of August 5, 2023, lying in the grass at a mobile home park in the 7000 block of Woodlake View near Woodlake Trails in eastern Bexar County, according to the San Antonio Express-News. Deputies discovered his body at approximately 7:20 a.m., and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said investigators found the body along with a shell casing nearby. Authorities located Martinez’s 2022 Toyota Tacoma abandoned near a school in northeast Bexar County, and surveillance footage showed Sommers leaving the vehicle there, according to the same Express-News report.
That discovery, along with a relative’s prescription pill bottle found in the truck, initially tied Sommers to the case, and he was arrested on charges of unauthorized use of a vehicle and evidence tampering, per the Express-News account. Authorities later said fingerprints recovered inside Martinez’s pickup matched Sommers, and Sheriff Salazar announced that Sommers was charged with first-degree murder along with additional charges. At the time, Sommers was held on bail exceeding $50,000 for the lesser charges while a judge had not yet set bail on the pending homicide charge, the outlet reported.
A Violent Home Invasion Two Years Later
Nearly three years after Martinez’s killing, Sommers was arrested again — this time in July 2026, in connection with a violent home invasion in northeast Bexar County the previous month, according to KSAT. The homeowner was shot twice in the chest during the June 2026 break-in and survived, though the homeowner ultimately did not press charges, per KSAT’s reporting. Bexar County Sheriff’s Office records show Sommers had an active murder warrant tied to Martinez’s death at the time of the home invasion arrest.
Sommers was taken into custody along with three other men connected to the case: Rodney Robinson III, Nehemiah Pratt and Kentrell Guillory. Troopers arrested Pratt and Guillory after the pair attempted to flee an apartment complex by climbing down a balcony, according to authorities cited by the station. Bexar County Sheriff’s Office video showed Robinson running across lanes of traffic to evade authorities following a short pursuit, while Sommers was reportedly in the passenger seat of the car and was not shown fleeing.
Family Waits for Court Answers
Jaquez and other family members went to court hoping to see Sommers face the murder charge, but a prosecutor told the family that the case was pushed to a future date, in part because of the new charges stemming from the home invasion. The delay has left the family in limbo years after Martinez’s death, still waiting for the case to move forward.
“This type of thing shouldn’t happen,” Jaquez told the station, expressing frustration that Sommers was free at all before the 2026 arrest. She said she hopes her family will finally get answers in court and wants accountability in her brother’s case.
Jaquez remembers her brother as more than a case number. Martinez, who had two daughters, dreamed of becoming a musician, and his sister says he was loved by his family and should be remembered as a person who was loved.
Bail Laws Complicate Repeat Offender Cases
The gap between Sommers’ initial 2023 arrest and his release raises questions that reach beyond one Bexar County family. Under Article 17.151 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, a felony defendant held in jail must be released on a personal bond or granted reduced bail if the state is not ready for trial and fails to indict the defendant within 90 days of arrest, a provision that has previously resulted in the release of a Bexar County capital murder suspect, according to KENS 5.
Separately, Texas Senate Bill 6, passed during the 2021 legislative session, amended Article 17.027 of the state's Code of Criminal Procedure to require magistrates to check whether a felony suspect committed a new crime while already out on bail for a prior felony before setting release conditions, according to a summary from the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Bexar County has faced scrutiny over pretrial releases before: in December 2023, suspect Shane James Jr., who had been bonded out of the Bexar County Jail in 2022 on misdemeanor charges with help from a local advocacy group, was arrested in connection with a multi-city shooting spree in San Antonio and Austin that left six people dead, as reported by KSAT.
In May 2025, Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales publicly endorsed state legislative proposals led by Texas Governor Greg Abbott to automatically deny bail to people accused of violent crimes such as murder, citing public safety and offender accountability, according to the Express-News. Bexar County has also tried to address court delays structurally: back in May 2017, the county created specialized felony impact courts aimed at reducing trial backlogs and lowering jail populations by speeding up trial schedules for inmates held on high bonds for serious felony charges, per MySA. For Jaquez, none of those policy debates change what she’s still waiting for — a court date where her brother’s case finally moves forward.
