Police said Friday that Diego Martinez shot and killed his wife, 40-year-old Martha Nava De Martinez, and a male friend who was visiting her -- 31-year-old Omar Salazar.
That shooting happened around 7am Friday on Yellow Pine near Woodland Oaks in northwest Houston. The accused gunman's children were just steps away at the time.
Since then, Martinez had allegedly been hiding at the home of an acquaintance on W. 27th Street near N. Durham in The Heights.
"The information that we obtained was that he had come to this residence to get a ride with that acquaintance to go to Mexico," HPD spokesperson Victor Senties said.
Police aren't sure whether the acquaintance knew about the murders.
According to investigators, several neighbors contacted authorities and said they believed Martinez was in the area.
SWAT officers responded and surrounded the house as they tried to make contact with Martinez.
The standoff soon ended. "There was a single gunshot heard," Senties said. "The SWAT team breached the house and found the suspect deceased inside the house with an apparant self-inflicted gunshot wound."
Martinez died at the scene. He was about 42 years old.
Police described Martinez as a jealous husband. He was sentenced to 10 days in jail last month after being indicted for assaulting his youngest child. A protective order keeping him from coming near the family's home expired about two weeks ago.
Martinez' death and the deaths of Martinez's wife and Salazar remain under investigation.
