Man accused of shooting his estranged wife in front of children now in custody

On Saturday September 16, 2017 at approximately 1:25 pm, deputies with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to a weapons disturbance call in the 7900 block of Echinacea Dr. in east Harris County.  Upon arriving, they discovered the victim, 34 year old Julia Martinez, sitting in the driver's seat of her crashed vehicle deceased from apparent gunshot wounds. Deputies spoke with witnesses who stated the victim was in her vehicle with her two children, ages 13 and 5,  when she was shot by her estranged common law husband, 35 year old Roy Garcia Jr. after the two got into a verbal argument.  Immediately after the shooting Martinez’s vehicle crashed into several mail boxes and vehicles before she succumbed to her injuries. She was pronounced deceased at the scene and there were no injuries to the children.  Garcia fled the scene in a tan Tahoe.

Homicide investigators were called to the scene to conduct the investigation.  The subsequent investigation resulted in a murder charge against Roy Garcia Jr. out of the 183rd District Court with no-bond set.  At approximately 10:15 p.m. Garcia surrendered to Troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety, without incident, at a rest area on I-10 westbound in Guadalupe County.  He is currently being held in the Guadalupe County Jail.