San Angelo Teen Arrested for Murder in Drug Deal Gone Bad

SAN ANGELO, TX — A San Angelo teen has been arrested for his involvement in a homicide at the River Pointe Apartments.

Justin Ramirez, 17, was charged with murder after a man was killed Wednesday following a drug deal gone bad.

According to court documents, on July 23, 2025, San Angelo police responded to the intersection of Roosevelt Street and Rio Concho Drive regarding a gunshot victim who was located inside a vehicle.

The victim, identified as 19-year-old Joe Angel Martinez III, was driving the vehicle with a gunshot wound and crashed into a masonry mailbox at the intersection. A responding sergeant with the San Angelo Police Department told the investigator that the victim had drove the vehicle out of the River Pointe Apartments, located at 1173 Benedict Drive, and collided with the mailbox in the 100 block of Roosevelt Street.

Martinez was transported to Shannon but succumbed to his injuries.

The investigator spoke with one of Martinez’s family members and learned that he had Life360 software on his phone so he could be tracked. A review of this software returned that Martinez III had traveled from Johnson Street to Avenue N to Chadbourne, to Rio Concho Drive to River Pointe Apartments.

A contractor performing work at the apartment complex told the investigator that he was in the parking lot and saw a suspicious vehicle park.

Security footage from River Pointe Apartments showed a total of three individuals approach Martinez while he was sitting in his car. One of the individuals then pointed a gun at Martinez before the car was observed driving off.

The next day, the investigator spoke with a witness who said that Justin Ramirez and two other boys left her residence the night before. She said that when they returned, their behavior was odd. The witness then saw the large police presence at River Pointe Apartments and asked Ramirez about what happened.

Ramirez allegedly told her that he was involved in a shooting that night. He also allegedly said that he and the two boys set up a drug deal, and the drug dealer was shot during the transaction. The witness advised that the boys discard their clothing at her residence and that the clothing was still there.

Ramirez was arrested Thursday and charged with murder. He was booked into the Tom Green County Jail and is being held on $150,000 bond.