A Lehigh County jury has convicted 27-year-old Allentown man Hector Martinez of first-degree murder in the Labor Day 2024 shooting death of 39-year-old Terrence Brunson, who was gunned down while sitting on a West Liberty Street porch. The verdict, announced by prosecutors, caps a case that stretched more than two years from the killing to conviction and included a year-long manhunt, witness anonymity orders, and two trial postponements.
Martinez was found guilty of both first-degree murder and possessing a firearm without a license following a three-day jury trial that began this past Tuesday, according to LehighValleyLive.com. The outlet reports that Allentown police were called to the 500 block of West Liberty Street shortly after 10:40 p.m. on Labor Day 2024 for a reported shooting, where witnesses told officers Brunson had been sitting on the porch of a home when a man wearing a face covering opened fire. Brunson was driven by private vehicle to a local hospital, where he later died.
Brunson died after being shot. Investigators said surveillance footage showed the shooter wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a baseball cap, and black pants with white side stripes — details that helped them identify Martinez as the suspect. According to the outlet, Martinez fled the area after the shooting but later returned to his own home.
A Yearlong Manhunt Ends With a Chase
Martinez evaded arrest for more than a year after the shooting. He was finally taken into custody in September 2025 after a woman pushed an officer during a foot pursuit of Martinez, according to a report from WFMZ. The delay between the killing and the arrest meant Brunson's family and the surrounding West Liberty Street neighborhood waited more than a year before anyone faced charges in his death.
Once charged, Martinez's case moved slowly through Lehigh County's court system. Court dockets show the murder trial was postponed twice before testimony finally began this past Tuesday, the same report notes.
Brunson's killing occurred during what turned out to be a record year for public safety in Allentown. The city recorded just four homicides in 2024 — its lowest single-year total since 1989 — according to WDIY Local News, a steep drop from the 11 homicides tallied in 2023. The same report credited newly integrated street and license-plate surveillance cameras with assisting Allentown police in 349 criminal investigations that year.
Mandatory Life Sentence Looms
Under Pennsylvania law, an adult convicted of first-degree murder faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or the death penalty, per 18 Pa.C.S. § 1102 as outlined by the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
The case lands amid a broader pattern of sustained, if still fragile, public-safety gains across Allentown. The Lehigh County District Attorney's Office has reported a combined 94% clearance rate for homicides committed across 2024 and 2025, as Hoodline previously reported in coverage of another Allentown homicide case resolved this month.
