After being found guilty of fatally shooting two men in 2024 in Fort Worth, a 45-year-old man was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole on Friday.
Officials say the man, Alfredo Cantu Martinez, was picked up by his 26-year-old cousin, Martin Hernandez Jr., in April 2024 in Dallas. They drove to Fort Worth to visit several people, including Michael Cantu.
Martinez and Hernandez were speaking with Cantu in an alleyway outside his home, officials say. The three men were walking toward the alley, away from Cantu’s girlfriend, who was in a nearby car, when gunshots rang out moments later.
Cantu’s girlfriend found Hernandez and Cantu lying in the alley with gunshot wounds, officials said. Martinez had run away. She then called 911.
Officials said Cantu was pronounced dead at the scene. Hernandez was taken to a hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, where the later died.
Martinez was found by officers running from the area and arrested.
Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Lauren Lawrence told the jury that Martinez “stole the lives of Michael Cantu and Martin Hernandez by shooting them with a fire arm.”
“You have to ask yourself — would any of you do what he did that day?” Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney D.J. Estes asked the jury. “The answer is no.”