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Charges Filed in Gage Park Massacre That Left 6 Dead, Including Children

By Alex Nitkin | May 19, 2016 3:02pm
 Loved ones erected memorials to the Martinez family outside the Gage Park home where they were killed.
Loved ones erected memorials to the Martinez family outside the Gage Park home where they were killed.
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DNAinfo/Alex Nitkin

CHICAGO — Police charged two suspects in the slaying of a six-person family that shocked Gage Park and Chicago and represented the city's most deadly violent incident since 2003.

The six-person Martinez family was found slain in their home in the 5700 block of South California Avenue in early February in what one officer called the most "gruesome" scene he'd ever seen on the job.

An older woman and middle-aged man were stabbed and beaten, autopsy results showed. An older man and two boys were stabbed to death, and a middle-aged woman was shot. All deaths were ruled homicides.

The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified the victims as Noe Martinez Sr., 62, Rosaura Martinez, 58, Noe Martinez Jr., 38, Maria Herminia Martinez, 32, Alexis Cruz, 10, and Leonardo Cruz, 13.

Family members said Alexis and Leonardo were Herminia's sons.

Azucena Martinez, a niece to the slain Noe Martinez, Sr., and Rosaura Martinez, told DNAinfo in February that her slain relatives were a "quiet" and caring family. She said Leonardo, 13, was "outgoing" and that Alexis, 10, loved soccer.


Left photo: Noe Martinez Sr. (photo circa 1990); Top Photo: (left to right) Leonardo Cruz, Noe Martinez Jr., Rosaura (Rosa) Hernandez-Martinez, Alexis Cruz; Bottom Photo: (left to right) Leonardo Cruz, mother Maria Herminia Martinez, and Alexis Cruz.

Shortly after the murders, then-interim Police Supt. John Escalante said there was no cause for concern in the surrounding neighborhood because "there's nothing at this point that leads us to believe this was a random act."

Despite early, conflicting reports, Chief of Detectives Eugene Roy said in February that the victims "were not bound and there did not appear to be any ransacking of the house."

The doors were locked, Roy said, and there were no signs anyone broke in.

This is a developing story.

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