Police: Homicide suspect also killed boy, 2

Modesto, Calif. — Police said Monday that a suspect in the homicides of five people whose bodies were found in a Northern California home this weekend is also responsible for the death of a toddler left in his care last year.

Martin “Marty” Martinez, 30, was arrested early Sunday morning as he left a San Jose movie theater with his father.

Modesto Police Chief Galen Carroll said at a news conference Monday that a pathologist concluded on Thursday that 2-year-old Christopher Ripley died of “blunt force trauma” to the head on Oct. 2, 2014.

Carroll said Martinez had been under investigation since the boy’s death in a local hospital and that authorities were preparing to formally charge him with homicide when five bodies were found Saturday afternoon in the Modesto home he used to share with Dr. Amanda Crews.

Crews, 38, was Ripley’s mother and one of the five homicide victims found Saturday. Martinez’s mother, his daughter with Crews and two other girls were also found dead. Martinez is a suspect in the five homicides, Carroll said.

Carroll said police obtained awarrant for Martinez’s arrest for the toddler’s death Saturday night, after the five bodies were discovered.

Carroll said police didn’t issue a warrant earlier because they were awaiting the pathologist’s written report.

“The Modesto Police did not drop the ball,” Carroll said. He said the investigation of Ripley’s death took nine months because the department had to hire an outside pathologist who specializes in neurology to help with the case.

“Homicides do take a great deal of time to investigate,” Carroll said.