A Utah man has been charged with the murder of his adult daughter, a Salt Lake City sheriff’s deputy, according to prosecutors.
Hector Ramon Martinez-Ayala, 54, of Tooele, admitted to his brother in a text message that he had made “a big mistake” before fleeing the country and using his daughter’s bank card to withdraw funds, prosecutors said in court documents.
The victim, identified as 25-year-old Marbella Martinez, was a newly hired corrections officer with the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, having started in January. The department honored her in a Facebook post, noting that her death was being investigated as “suspicious” by Tooele police.
According to the court documents, Martinez had been living with her father in Tooele, located west of Salt Lake City. However, she moved to a hotel after his increasingly obsessive behavior, including constant texting, surveillance, and stalking, became unbearable.
Prosecutors said the stalking had persisted for months, with messages from Martinez-Ayala described as more like those of a jealous lover than a father. Police also found a bag of her underwear in his room, further highlighting the disturbing nature of his behavior. In mid-July, Martinez-Ayala placed a tracking device on her vehicle while she was abroad and used it to locate her and a romantic partner in a hiking area, according to the charges.
On July 31, when Martinez returned home, her father allegedly strangled her. Investigators said that surveillance cameras at the property were quickly disabled, but Martinez-Ayala left a digital trail, including location data from both his and his daughter’s phones. That afternoon, he sent a text message to his brother, admitting his actions.
In the message, Martinez-Ayala wrote, “My brother, you know how much I love you. I made a big mistake, an unforgivable sin. Now I’m too scared, and I don’t know what to do. I think I will never come back,” according to court records.
Martinez-Ayala then flew to California and Texas before his cell phone records went dark. He was later captured on film passing through customs in an undisclosed country, where he used his brother’s identification.
Martinez’s body was discovered on Aug. 1 in her bedroom after police conducted a welfare check.
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In addition to murder, Martinez-Ayala faces charges of obstruction of justice, stealing a bank card, stalking, and misdemeanor identity theft.
No attorney is currently listed for Martinez-Ayala in Utah’s online court records, and efforts to reach him through alternative means have been unsuccessful.
