In the early morning hours of September 4, 2025, 26-year-old Ronell Marte was walking home from his overnight shift at an Amazon warehouse. Choosing to walk after a prior attempted robbery on the train, he cut through Starlight Park in the Bronx and was within about five minutes of home when he was robbed of his cellphone and shot once in the chest just before 3 a.m. A bicyclist found him and emergency responders took him to Saint Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Ronell, who had autism and was working toward an associate’s degree, was described by his family as innocent and gentle-hearted and the first in his family to graduate college. Police identified two suspects in the case: 20-year-old Axel Martinez, arrested September 18, and 19-year-old Luis Alberto Lopez Castillo, who later turned himself in to the 43rd Precinct. Investigators say the pair were linked to a gunpoint robbery that occurred about 15 minutes earlier, roughly half a mile away.

The Bronx District Attorney’s office indicted both men on multiple charges, including second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, first-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon; both were remanded and had a court date set for January 29, 2026. If anyone knew Ronell, his route through Starlight Park, or observed anything in the area that night, please come forward with information.