Police found the body of 48-year-old /*Martin Zepeda*/ on Tuesday inside a home on Tulare and Fifth in southeast Fresno. And almost one month to the day, 21-year-old Delmon Newsome was shot the death just yards from his southwest Fresno church.
Police had to serve a total 12 search warrants to solve one crime. The other required hours of undercover surveillance. And their hard work paid off with arrests in both cases.
A memorial still sits outside the home of Martin Zepeda Thursday night. Police say 23-year-old Alfredo Chavez and 19-year-old Brian Munoz have admitted to robbing him and beating him to death.
A break in the case came when police found the two suspects in Zepeda's stolen car in west central Fresno. Zepeda's friend says he's glad someone is in custody.
"My sister told me earlier today had a blog on ABC, channel 30 with his pictures and stuff but it's amazing that they found somebody, that they found his car and they found the people that committed the crime." said Ramon Pulido.
One the same day police solved this crime, they also made an arrest in another high profile murder.
21-year-old Edward Page is jail accused of gunning down 21-year-old /*Delmon Newsome*/ outside Saint Rest Church in southwest Fresno.
Newsome was a member of the church and had just gotten his life back on track. His pastor says the arrest is bittersweet.
"But unfortunately it was a peer of Delmon. And when I say a peer it was a young person. And so here's a young person who literally thrown their life away." said Pastor Shane Scott.
Newsome's death last month sparked outrage and prompted Pastor Scott to organize a community meeting to try and reduce violent crime in the area. He says it's worked.
"I've seen a community come together to talk about taking their community back." added Scott.
Police say the man arrested in Newsome's death is a validated gang member. And they say one of the suspects in the other killing is also a gang member.
