Martin Hernandez Jr., a 26-year-old Hispanic man, was killed in a shooting in Fort Worth, Texas, in the spring of 2024. The incident that led to his death also claimed the life of his friend, 24-year-old Michael Cantu.
On the evening of April 23, 2024, Hernandez and his cousin, Alfredo Cantu Martinez, arrived in Fort Worth after Hernandez had picked him up in Dallas earlier that day. They went to visit Michael Cantu at his home, and the three men walked into an alley behind the residence in the 2400 block of Irion Avenue to talk. A short time later, gunfire erupted. Cantu’s girlfriend, who had been waiting in a nearby car, heard the shots and rushed to the alley, where she found both men wounded and called 911.
When police officers arrived, they found Michael Cantu deceased at the scene from a gunshot wound to the chest. Martin Hernandez Jr. was alive but in critical condition with multiple gunshot wounds.
Paramedics transported him to John Peter Smith Hospital for emergency treatment. Despite the efforts of medical staff, Hernandez succumbed to his injuries two days later, on April 25, 2024. His death was ruled a homicide.
The investigation led Fort Worth police to arrest Hernandez’s cousin, 45-year-old Alfredo Cantu Martinez, in connection with the double homicide. He was charged with capital murder and booked into the Tarrant County Jail.
In February 2026, Martinez stood trial for the shooting deaths of his cousin and Michael Cantu. A Tarrant County jury deliberated before finding him guilty of capital murder. Following the verdict, the judge handed down an automatic sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. While family members of the victims expressed a sense of relief with the outcome, the motive for the killings was not clarified during the trial.
