EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — An El Paso woman has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for murdering her husband back in December of 2023 after she discovered he was cheating.
Court records show that Luz Elena Martinez, 54, pled guilty to murder and was sentenced to 20 years on May 13, for shooting and killing her husband, Jose Luis Avalos Reyes, on December 27, 2023, at their home in South Central El Paso.
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According to documents obtained from the El Paso Police Department, Martinez had discovered that Avalos Reyes was having an extramarital affair and she had hired a private investigator and a lawyer to divorce him; however, before they could start the ball rolling on that proceeding, Martinez shot Avalos Reyes at close range as he was lying in bed.
Police documents reveal that Martinez first made it seem like she shot him in self-defense, telling investigators that Avalos Reyes had approached her with a knife.
RELATED: El Paso woman arrested by US Marshals for allegedly murdering husband post-Christmas 2023
Responding officers said that when they arrived at the home the found Martinez sitting in a taxi van parked outside the home and Avalos Reyes dead in bed, the gun on the nightstand and a knife in his left hand (which later investigators determined was his non-dominant hand).
Investigators later found out that Martinez had confessed to shooting Reyes to a witness, whom she had called before calling 911 on the night of the murder.
Martinez was arrested on March 11, 2024, by the US Marshals Fugitive Task Force at the 5700 block of Alameda Avenue for a warrant for murder.
RELATED: El Paso woman who shot husband after Christmas discovered affair, hired private detective
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