06 Oct Trial Underway for Cop Killer

Jurors watched body-camera footage Tuesday showing San Benito police officers scrambling to pull their dying supervisor from his patrol car, capping the second day of trial for a man accused of killing a veteran officer during a multi-city pursuit.

Rogelio Martinez, 20, faces the death penalty for the Oct. 17, 2023, shooting of San Benito Police Dept. Lt. Milton Resendez, a 27-year veteran of the force. Martinez, who was 18 at the time, faces capital murder of a peace officer, six counts of attempted capital murder of a peace officer, and two counts of evading arrest. He has pleaded not guilty.

Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz told jurors that the violence began during a routine traffic stop on Beach Access No. 5 on South Padre Island, where a park ranger discovered a red GMC truck driven by Martinez was stolen. Body-camera footage captured Martinez wrestling with the ranger before jumping into the bed of the truck as his co-defendant, 26-year-old Rodrigo Axel Espinosa Valdez, sped away.

The initial chase reached speeds over 100 mph along Highway 48 and turned into a rolling gunfight. Cameron County Precinct 1 Deputy Constable Jesus Manuel Estrada testified that Martinez opened fire on him, forcing Estrada to shoot back through his own windshield. Investigators later recovered 29 spent casings from Estrada’s patrol unit.

After the suspects abandoned the red GMC near Rivera High School, Texas Rangers tracked them via cellphone pings to a Southmost apartment complex, where officers spotted them fleeing in a black Ford Expedition to launch a second pursuit toward San Benito.

Resendez was not originally scheduled to be on the street. San Benito Police Officer Edward Trevino testified that Resendez was his shift supervisor and was supposed to remain at the station. As radio reports broadcast incoming gunfire, Resendez left to assess the situation despite Trevino calling to warn him.

“I just had a bad feeling something was going to happen,” Trevino testified. “He didn’t have to leave the station.”

Prosecutors said the suspects crossed several lanes on Sam Houston Boulevard in San Benito to target Resendez’s patrol vehicle. Martinez fired through the driver-side door, striking Resendez in the abdomen just below his bulletproof vest.

Resendez broadcast his final words over the radio moments later: “I’m hit.”

Trevino arrived first to find Resendez unresponsive behind the wheel. Because the doors were locked and the reinforced glass wouldn’t break, Trevino, Det. Mario Valdez Jr., and Border Patrol agents smashed the windows, loaded Resendez into the bed of a Border Patrol truck, and rushed him to Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, where he died.

Body-camera footage showed officers performing CPR in the emergency bay as Detective Valdez pleaded, “Stay with us, Lt.” Martinez showed no visible reaction as the video played in court.

State troopers ultimately stopped the suspect vehicle near the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville using a PIT maneuver. Officers arrested Espinosa Valdez at the scene and located Martinez hiding nearby shortly after.

Defense attorney Ed Cyganiewicz urged jurors to look at Espinosa Valdez, arguing the older co-defendant orchestrated the flight to avoid arrest on existing warrants for gun running and vehicle theft. Espinosa Valdez pleaded guilty to a lesser murder charge under a plea deal and is expected to testify against Martinez.

Cyganiewicz noted the murder weapon belonged to Espinosa Valdez and carried only his DNA, arguing that while Martinez made disastrous choices, he never intended to kill anyone.

Testimony resumes Wednesday morning.