Would-be cop killer now charged with murder in robbery

A Kensington man accused of trying to kill six police officers in two separate incidents last year has been charged with murder in the death of a 38-year-old Kensington man.

Police charged Nasuil Martinez, 20, of Lee Street near Somerset, on Monday with the Dec. 21 murder of Carlos Fernandez, 38, of A Street near Ontario. Martinez allegedly broke into Fernandez's home just after 2 a.m., shot Fernandez repeatedly and robbed him, police spokeswoman Officer Jillian Russell said. Paramedics declared Fernandez dead on the scene 15 minutes later, Russell said. A homicide detective told the Inquirer the shooting arose from a dispute over a drug debt, and that Martinez stole Fernandez's wristwatch and diamond earrings as the man lay dying on his living-room floor.

At the time of the Fernandez slaying, Martinez was wanted for shooting a police officer in the shoulder with a stolen gun while fleeing a traffic stop on Dec. 10. The day after Fernandez's death, Martinez got in an early-morning standoff with police in his girlfriend's Summerdale basement. During that Dec. 22 incident, he shot repeatedly at police officers. One SWAT officer was hit in the head, and another, in the chest, but both men survived without serious injury thanks to their bulletproof vests. The standoff ended when Martinez accidentally shot himself in the neck. He faces six counts of attempted murder for the standoff and the Dec. 10 assault.