A woman ‘solved her own homicide’ by photographing her killer moments before her death
Pamela Rae Martinez, 60, was shot to death in her car minutes before arriving home. She had just finished delivering her last food order and was on the road when she had some sort of altercation with 62-year-old Rusty Raymond French. Minutes later, French would end up murdering Pamela Rae Martinez in her car.
On June 11, before 7:30 p.m., police were contacted about a vehicle with an injured person inside. The vehicle was on the side of the road at 61st Avenue, north of Bell Road in Glendale, Arizona. When the police arrived, they found Martinez unresponsive in the driver’s seat of her car.
The vehicle’s doors were locked, so as a last resort, police used a hammer to break the driver’s window to remove Martinez from her car. Shortly after, paramedics arrived at the scene, but were unable to save the life of Pamela Rae Martinez.
Pamela Martinez worked as a food delivery driver for Uber Eats. Her daughter, Monique Daniels, told KPNX-TV that before the incident, she had just delivered her last order and was less than three minutes away from arriving home.
The Glendale police department said Martinez may have had an altercation with Rusty Raymond French while on the road minutes before he decided to kill her. Police believe road rage was what motivated French to kill Martinez.
Before her murder, at 7:22 p.m., Martinez was able to take a photo of her killer, and because of that photo, police were able to identify her killer as Rusty Raymond French.
Tiffany Ngalula, a Glendale police officer, said that the photo Martinez took was “of a man sitting in his van.” The Glendale police officer went on to say, “Had she not done that, we would not know who her shooter was.”
Along with the photo, police were able to find a handgun in French’s home that matched the bullet found in Martinez’s wound.
On June 15, French was taken to the police station to be interviewed and was confronted with the image that Martinez took during her last moments. Rusty French acknowledged that he was the man in the photo, but he allegedly “blacked out” when the shooting occurred.
According to police, French showed no remorse for the murder of Pamela Rae Martinez.
Monique Daniels told 12 News, “Our whole life she’s been a fighter, she’s been strong, and I told my husband that she solved her own homicide.”
On June 23, French was taken into custody. Rusty Raymond French now faces a second-degree murder charge.
Image Credit: Pamela Rae Martinez Facebook page
