News By TooFab Staff | 11/12/2024 7:37 AM PT
Edgar Josué Chiche Martínez was just days shy of his 19th birthday when his body was found on the side of the highway.
Two men were arrested in connection to the death of a teen in Hartford, Connecticut -- and now, it's been revealed the suspects are the victim's cousins.
The body of Edgar Jose Martinez, 18, (above left) was found on the side of Pope Park Highway, wrapped in a comforter last Saturday. Per police, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the teen had been shot multiple times.
Martinez was just days shy of his 19th birthday on November 14, having graduated from high school this past spring.
Indiana State Police/FBI
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"It is believed that the body had been placed on Pope Park Highway approximately 24 hours prior to the discovery," said police in a press release. "During the course of the investigation, it was determined that the incident occurred approximately one day earlier, in an apartment inside 158 Magnolia Street."
After searching the apartment, police located two suspects on Saturday morning and took them into custody. Per Martinez's family, the teen lived with two of his cousins -- who have been charged in his death.
Sender Soto-Veliz, 21, (above right) has been charged with hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence and is being held on $500,000 bond, while an unnamed 17-year-old man has been charged with murder and tampering with evidence.
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Per police lieutenant Aaron Boisver, via PEOPLE, Soto-Veliz is suspected of helping the teen dispose of the body. Boisver also said the teenager's case is expected to head to adult court.
Speaking with NBC Connecticut, Martinez's aunt said, "What we do want is for earthly justice to be made because God's justice is on the other side" -- adding the family believes he was killed over money.
"We are working on a couple of theories," Boisvert told FOX 61. "The most prominent is there was some sort of disagreement in the apartment that went bad which turned into a physical altercation which turned into a homicide."
His sister, Nimsa, also told the outlet, "He was the person who always took care of me, despite him not being OK. I'm going to remember him as the most beautiful person I could've ever known."
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