SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — Two individuals were indicted in the 391st District Court in the Tom Green County Courthouse on Nov. 9 for a shooting on East 34th Street that resulted in the death of Jacob Hernandez.
Kristopher Lozano, 18, and Nicholas Martinez, 18, were both indicted for murder in Tom Green County.
The San Angelo Police Department began their investigation on Aug. 7, 2023, in regards to a shooting victim in the 600 Blk of East 34th Street. Upon arrival, officers located 19-year-old Hernandez, face down on the street with multiple gunshot wounds. There were also five .45 caliber Hornady cartridge cases, which were spent, on the ground near the victim.
Records filed in Tom Green County share that SAPD was able to obtain video and audio recordings that showed three gunshots being fired at around 3:46 a.m. During and after the gunshots are heard, two people can be seen running westbound in the 600 Blk of East 34th St, both with light-colored shirts, shoes and dark pants.
Officers canvassing the area spoke with a neighbor who was told via text from a friend named Evie Medina that Lozano and Hernandez were ‘beefing’ shortly after she heard gunshots. Following an interview with Medina, detectives learned at around 2:40 a.m., Hernandez texted her trying to see who had “beef” with him and “If chris want to kick rocks with me tell him wassup wit it I’ll pull up an smash his a** out for talking crazy.”
Detectives learned that Medina also spoke with Lozano the night before and on the morning of Aug. 7 to inform him that police had spoken with her.
Records show officers collected a cellular tablet, which was Hernandez’s only means of communication, from his residence on East 35th Street. Instagram messages that transpired an hour and a half before the shooting were found on the tablet with a profile that belonged to Lozano. At around 2:55 a.m. on Aug. 7, Hernandez started to message the profile. At 3:36 a.m., Lozano tells the victim ‘we finna fade?”. Messages continue at 3:43 a.m. with Hernandez telling Lozano that he is at the back fence, yelling for Lozano to ‘catch this fade”, three minutes before the shooting.
Detectives were able to identify the profile picture used for Instagram as it was the jail booking photograph of Lozano’s side profile.
Later on Aug. 7, SAPD was notified of a handgun that was found under suspicious circumstances in the 400 Blk of East 23rd around 7:48 p.m. The handgun was identified as a Glock 36 .45 caliber with ammunition. Those investigating found the handgun located on East 23rd Street matched the type and brand of cartridge cases that were found at the crime scene.
The complaint of the call informed SAPD that the gun that was found belonged to her son, Martinez and she believed she heard him sneaking back into the house through his window that night.
On Aug. 8, a search warrant was obtained and executed at a residence in the 400 block of East 23, and located clothing that belonged to Martinez with apparent blood stains and electronic devices.
During another interview that was conducted, detectives learned Hernandez was visiting a friend on Oaklawn Blvd that night. While there, the friend shared she had been contacting Medina when Hernandez took her phone and called Median. While on the phone with Hernandez, Medina gave Lozano the phone. At one point, Hernandez wanted to meet up with Lozona to fight.
Records show officers were aware that both Martinez and Lozano were in communication within minutes of the shooting. The mother of Martinez also shared with detectives that Martinez told her he was with Lozano at 4 a.m. in his residence on East 23rd Street.
Video footage stamped on Aug. 7 at 3:48 a.m. shows one individual with the same stature and build as Martinez is seen coming off of East 28th Street and running south onto Bowie Street from the direction of the crime. Clothes seen on the individual in the footage matched clothing obtained during a search warrant at Martinez’s residence. Investigators further mapped out the path of the person seen from the footage from the crime scene to the residence on East 23rd Street, making it around a 14-minute trip on foot.
A witness spoke with officers at the police station on Aug. 25 and gave information that led to Martinez’s arrest. The witness told SAPD that he knew Lozano had recruited Martinez to confront Hernadez with him since Martinez had access to a handgun. While en route to the crime scene, Lozano verified Martinez had the gun with him, according to the witness.
SAPD shares that Lozano helped facilitate the murder by engaging in a fight with Hernandez through Instagram and brought a person to the altercation who had a handgun.
Martinez was booked in the detention center on Aug. 25. Lozano was booked in the Tom Green County Detention Center on Sept. 27 for murder. Martinez and Lozano both have a bond set at $500,000.
