Robbery the Motive in Brutal Murders of 6 Family Members in Chicago

CHICAGO — A young man and his girlfriend were arrested by Chicago Police and charged with murder in the bloody massacre of a Chicago family in February.

Police said Diego Uribe, 22, a nephew of the Martinez family, and his girlfriend, Jafeth Ramos, 19, killed the Gage Park family over a robbery and a personal dispute, police said at a Thursday afternoon press conference.

Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson called the Feb. 4 murders "an act of barbarism." Uribe and Ramos are each charged with six counts of murder.

DNA was recovered from the scene that wasn't from the Martinez family. DNA test results returned to the Chicago Police on Wednesday proved to be the final break in the investigation and police then took Uribe and Ramos into custody.

The slain, five of whom were stabbed and beaten, include:

• Rosaura Martinez, 58, and her husband, Noe Martinez Sr., 62
• Noe Martinez Jr., 38, their son
• Maria Herminia Martinez, 32, their daughter
• Leonardo Cruz, 13, and Alexis Cruz, 10, Maria’s sons

The bodies were discovered in a home at 5708 S. California Ave. in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood. The killings were particularly brutal in nature, and police immediately suspected the family was targeted.

"They were a family like any other who went to work, went to school, loved each other, and abided by the law. In my 28 years, I haven't seen a case that has hit as close to home for myself and many others in this department," Johnson said. "For CPD officer and detectives, this was personal."

Cmdr. William Dunn said Uribe initially got into an argument with Maria Martinez, killing her first.

Maria Martinez was found on her knees as if she were begging for her life when she was shot to death.

Dunn said he then moved on to kill the other family members.

Her 10-year-old son, Alexis, was stabbed 10 times in the chest. The 13-year-old, Leonardo, was stabbed in the head, neck and chest.

The bodies were found two days after the killings when Noe Martinez Jr. failed to show up for work and someone called police to check on him. An officer saw a body through a window and police found their way into the home. They encountered a bloody, grisly scene. The family's tiny dog, still shivering uncontrollably days after the attacks, was taken in by neighbors.

Officers were visibly shaken by what they saw.

"Our detectives and our evidence technicians were in the house processing the scene for 16 nearly hours," Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy said at a press conference.

Uribe provided his DNA to police during the course of the investigation as part of a routine procedure for relatives. When police confirmed the DNA they found at the scene was Uribe's, Dunn said, they knew they had their suspect.

Roy said cell-phone records link Uribe to the scene. Roy said many leads did not pan out, but the team of detectives who worked this case for four months did not flag in their efforts.

The role Ramos played in the killings was not explained at the press conference, but police said evidence connected her to the scene.

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