Ramiro Martinez, a 48-year-old Hispanic man, was killed in his Rosenberg, Texas, home on September 11, 2020. Officers who responded to a 911 call from his wife, identified in reports as Irene Banda, found Martinez dead in the master bedroom from gunshot wounds to his back and head. Banda initially told police masked intruders had broken in and had tied her up, but her accounts about how she was bound and how she escaped to a neighbor differed.

Surveillance later showed a red Hyundai Veloster leaving the neighborhood and Martinez’s stolen truck was recovered. Investigators arrested 32-year-old Jorge Castellanos at a border checkpoint in October 2020. Castellanos confessed to detectives in February 2024, saying a murder plot had been planned with Irene Banda and her brother, Arnold DeLeon; he described being paid with guns, watches and optics and said DeLeon shot Martinez in the back before Castellanos shot him in the head. Castellanos told police he poured bleach on the body and loosely tied Banda to support the staged home invasion story.

After the confession, Irene Deleon Banda was arrested and charged with capital murder; later pleadings and sentences are reported. Did anyone in Rosenberg recognize the red Hyundai Veloster or see activity at the Martinez home on September 11, 2020?