GALVESTON — A newly released Texas Rangers investigative report provides additional details about the May 18 fatal shooting of 47-year-old Randy Martin by Galveston police Officer Joshua Nino De Guzman, including investigators’ accounts of video showing a physical struggle before the officer fired eight shots.
The 40-page report was released roughly two weeks after a Galveston County grand jury declined to indict De Guzman in Martin’s death. The Rangers conducted the investigation at the request of the Galveston Police Department.
Martin was killed during a traffic stop in the 1700 block of 55th Street after De Guzman attempted to detain him.
According to the report, De Guzman told investigators he first noticed Martin driving a black Lincoln away from an alley near 5520 Avenue L, an area that was under narcotics surveillance. De Guzman said Martin subsequently failed to stop at multiple stop signs before he activated his emergency lights at about 3:49 p.m.
De Guzman said he ordered Martin out of the vehicle and attempted to pat him down. The officer told investigators Martin resisted attempts to place him in handcuffs despite repeated commands to stop.
Investigators reviewing dash-camera footage described a physical struggle between the two men. Ranger Kyle Cornell wrote that the video showed Martin pulling his arms away from De Guzman before wrapping his left arm around the officer’s head and neck and reaching toward his waistband.
The report states Martin then moved back toward the driver’s seat and grabbed De Guzman’s holstered service weapon with his left hand while retrieving another object.
De Guzman told investigators he believed Martin was reaching for a firearm and feared for his life. According to his sworn statement, the officer broke free, drew his handgun and fired after Martin raised an object that De Guzman believed was a gun.
Investigators determined De Guzman fired eight rounds.
No firearm belonging to Martin was listed among the evidence recovered in the Rangers’ investigation. That is consistent with an earlier statement from Galveston Police Chief Doug Balli, who said shortly after the shooting that Martin appeared to have been unarmed.
Investigators did recover a plastic container, white rock-like material and a black bag containing white powder from the driveway of a nearby home. The report says presumptive testing returned positive results for the rock-like and powdered substances, although it does not identify the substances by name.
De Guzman told investigators he believed the material was crack cocaine.
Ashley Nicole Parks, who was in Martin’s vehicle during the encounter, also provided investigators with an account of the confrontation.
According to the Rangers’ report, Parks told a Galveston police investigator that Martin began fighting with De Guzman and attempted to return to the vehicle to put down drugs he had. Parks said she heard De Guzman ordering Martin to stop before she heard the gunshots.
An autopsy determined Martin suffered seven gunshot wounds: five to the upper right portion of his back, one to his left arm and one to the left side of his chest. The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office classified his death as a homicide.
De Guzman remains employed by the Galveston Police Department. He was assigned to the department’s Support Services Bureau and had not returned to patrol at the time of the grand jury’s decision.
Martin’s family has continued to seek answers following the shooting. Civil rights attorney Adalberto Ruiz, who represents the family, said at a news conference earlier this month that the family intended to continue pursuing the matter through civil proceedings.
