On May 8, 2006, Nicole Allen, aged 22 and James Rodriguez, aged 23, were shot to death in the Fresno apartment. Joseph Rodriguez, brother of the deceased man, survived a gunshot to the chest but is now confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The accused, Martin Villalobos Hernandez, was found guilty of the crimes on June 14, 2013. He was charged with two counts of murder in the first degree, one count of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon.

On the morning of May 8 Hernandez was combing the neighborhood looking for his lost dog, a Chihuahua. In the course of his search, two people from the Rodriguez family told him they had seen such a dog on the street. They directed him to a home where they said a yellow Honda would be parked in the driveway.

Whether or not Hernandez found his missing pet is not known, but later that day he returned to the Rodriguiez apartment armed with a gun and shot the three people. Nicole died at the scene and James and Joseph we rushed to hospital, where James later died of his injuries. A witness at the scene, Lenze Rodriguez Pasillas, a sister of the two men, stated that she could have identified Hernandez as the killer.

The punishment for such crimes is life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional eighty years. Sentencing will take place in Fresno on July 15.

The lawyer for the defendant, Margarita Martinez, claims that the prosecution did not present any physical evidence at the trial to implicate her client in the murder. She alleges that the jury had made up their minds about her client’s guilt before they entered the courtroom. She announced that the Hernandez intends to appeal the conviction.

The Rodriquez couple left behind three small children who were 5, 2 and 1 at the times their parents were murdered. They are now living with their grandmother in Pennsylvania. The judge appeared to be pleased with the guilty verdict and praised the jury for being able to handle such a challenging case.