Crime Solvers Central
Crime Solvers Central
302 Cases Solved. Advancing justice for missing persons, unsolved homicides, unidentified and unclaimed remains.

Forum Posts for Jorge Martinez:
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On May 4, 1996, 26-year-old Jorge Martinez was fatally shot near 14th Street and Linden Avenue in Long Beach, California. Police responded about 10:30 p.m. to reports of gunfire and found Martinez lying face up on the sidewalk. Crime scene photos showed an empty plate at his feet and money protruding from his pocket, details investigators noted as suggesting robbery was not a motive.

The case went cold for years because of a lack of witnesses and leads. In 2015 cold case detectives reopened the investigation after new information surfaced and identified Wayne Taufi, also known as Big Fassi, who was a member of the Suicidals subset of the Sons of Samoa gang. Prosecutors allege Taufi controlled the alley where Martinez was killed and that he and another gang member known as KO had been selling drugs from a nearby house. Martinez had been walking through the alley with his girlfriend, eating a plate of food prepared by her sister; she returned home for a jacket, then heard gunshots and blacked out.

Taufi was arrested on the murder charge and pleaded not guilty; he has been awaiting trial since that arrest. Does anyone have information about Martinez that could help fill gaps in the timeline that night?