Suspect in deaths of girlfriend, family set for return to Modesto

The primary suspect in the weekend slayings of his girlfriend, his mother and three children inside a Village I home will be brought back to Modesto from San Jose on Thursday.

Modesto police spokeswoman Heather Graves said detectives will retrieve Martin Martinez from the jail in San Jose, where he was arrested Sunday on a warrant in the October death of his girlfriend’s 2-year-old child, Christopher Ripley.

Police Chief Galen Carroll said Martinez is expected to make his first court appearance Monday. He will be booked at the jail on suspicion of murder in Christopher’s death.

On Saturday, police found the bodies of Martinez’s girlfriend, Dr. Amanda Crews, 38; Martinez’s mother, Anna Brown Romero, 57; and three children inside the home on Nob Hill Court in Modesto. Police did not release the names of the children who were killed but friends and family identified two of them as Crews’ and Martinez’s 6-month-old daughter, Rachael, and Crews’ daughter from a previous relationship, 6-year-old Elizabeth. The other child was a 5-year-old girl police said was Martinez’s niece.

Martinez has been under investigation in the death of Crews’ 2-year-old since the boy’s death in October.

Investigators were given verbal confirmation from a medical expert Thursday that the death was a homicide resulting from abuse, which was two days before the Nob Hill Court deaths.

Detectives obtained a Ramey warrant for Martinez after the bodies were discovered to expedite his arrest. A Ramey warrant allows investigators to bypass prosecutors by going directly to a judge.

The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office is expected to file charges against Martinez this week.

This story was originally published July 22, 2015 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Suspect in deaths of girlfriend, family set for return to Modesto."