{"id":182862,"date":"2026-02-27T12:10:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:10:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/182862\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T12:10:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T12:10:30","slug":"man-sentenced-to-70-years-for-2024-fatal-hit-and-run-crash-in-east-el-paso","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/182862\/","title":{"rendered":"Man sentenced to 70 years for 2024 fatal hit-and-run crash in East El Paso"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">EL PASO, Texas (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:KTSM;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">KTSM<\/a>) \u2014 After five days of testimony, a jury found 34-year-old Rene Martinez guilty of murder and he has been sentenced to 70 years in prison for the 2024 fatal hit-and-run crash in East El Paso, according to the El Paso District Attorney\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">As KTSM previously reported, Martinez was charged in a deadly hit-and-run crash that resulted in the death of 23-year-old Juan Flores Jr.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a class=\"link  yahoo-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/articles\/jury-selection-underway-2024-east-001304342.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Jury selection underway for 2024 East El Paso fatal hit-and-run crash trial;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Jury selection underway for 2024 East El Paso fatal hit-and-run crash trial <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Trial evidence showed that on Sept. 20, 2024, Martinez was outside a bar along the 1400 block of North Zaragoza with two other men when a dispute broke out between their group and five other individuals, including Flores Jr.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">During the confrontation, someone from Flore\u2019s group threw a rock towards Martinez\u2019s vehicle. Martinez left the parking lot, but returned minutes later.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Witnesses testified that when Martinez returned, he accelerated his vehicle toward the group, striking Flores. Flores was thrown onto the roof and held on as Martinez swerved through the parking lot. Flores eventually lost his grip and fell, striking his head on the pavement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Martinez fled the scene and Flores was transported to a local hospital, where he later died due to his injuries.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In addition to the conviction of murder, the jury also found Martinez guilty of a collision involving death. The jury sentenced him to 70 years in prison for murder and 20 years in prison for collision involving death. The sentences will run concurrently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cI want to thank the jury for their service during this trial. They were presented with difficult evidence and took their responsibility seriously,\u201d DA James Montoya said. \u201cThe sentence reflects the gravity of the defendant\u2019s actions and the profound loss suffered by Juan Flores\u2019 family. This was severe punishment, and it underscores that violent conduct will carry serious consequences in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ktsm.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \"> For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News. <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) \u2014 After five days of testimony, a jury found 34-year-old Rene Martinez guilty of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":182863,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[138,140,139,73234,73233],"class_list":["post-182862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-el-paso","tag-el-paso","tag-el-paso-headlines","tag-el-paso-news","tag-juan-flores","tag-rene-martinez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182862\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}