Richardson murder suspect arrested in Florida
Ronald Martin
RICHARDSON, Texas - A Richardson man was arrested in Florida last week after police linked him to the death of a missing person.
Police charged 43-year-old Ronald Martin with murder.
He’s accused of killing a 32-year-old Garland man who disappeared in late June.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the missing man and several of his friends met up with Martin at a bar on June 28.
The group went to Martin’s apartment in Richardson to "continue partying" after leaving the bar.
The friends told police they went home early the next morning. The victim planned to "stay and sleep it off," the affidavit states.
That was the last time the victim was seen alive. Video from a neighbor’s doorbell camera never shows him leaving the apartment.
Police began searching for the missing man a few days later and discovered Martin had left town.
His neighbor’s doorbell camera showed him using a dolly to carry a large cardboard box out of the apartment, along with several other bags.
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Prosecutors say the man bought the child lingerie to "look and dress older so she could make money." He told her to refer to him as her pimp or "Daddy."
When officers searched the apartment, the affidavit states they found evidence of foul play including blood on the bathroom floor, blood in the bathtub, and large blood stains that appeared as though someone had tried to clean them.
Investigators believe Martin traveled to Arizona and then Florida in the days following the victim’s disappearance.
A warrant was issued for his arrest once the missing man’s body was finally discovered.
Martin turned himself in at the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida on July 8. He will be extradited to Dallas County soon.
Investigators are still working to determine a motive for the murder.
The Richardson Police Department did not release the victim’s name because his family asked for privacy.