Fresno County Sheriff's Office asks for public's help in homicide case

PARLIER, Calif. (KFSN) -- The Fresno County Sheriff's office is investigating their 12th homicide of the year.

The original 911 call came into the California Highway Patrol on Wednesday night describing an injured man lying on part of Lincoln Avenue, north of Parlier. The caller reportedly thought the man had been hit by a car and was fearful he could be struck again.

"Further investigation showed that there was more to this, that he had gunshot wounds, so that's why we've taken it over as a homicide investigation," said Fresno County Sheriff's Spokesperson Tony Botti.

The victim has been identified as 56-year-old Ruben Martinez, of Sanger. Family members say Martinez lived just blocks away from where he was found dead, and routinely walked the two miles from his home to Parlier.

"We know that he likes to travel back and forth between Parlier and Sanger so it's quite possible that he was walking along that pathway on Newmark (Avenue) yesterday afternoon," Botti said.

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office says the last time any family saw Martinez was around 7 a.m. on Wednesday. A day later, detectives don't have much to work with.

They don't have any strong leads that would lead them to a suspect, or a motive in the killing.

"That's why if a motorist saw him at say a certain time, if they could even tell us when that was, we can narrow that window to know when this might have occurred," Botti said. "And it could really help our detectives to solve this."

Thursday, some of Martinez's family members visited the area where he was found Wednesday night. They said he was well-known in Parlier and Sanger. The family also said he liked to have fun and talk with anyone who was up for it.