Rural Sacramento community shocked by son accused of brutally killing mother

SACRAMENTO COUNTY — A 29-year-old man is behind bars for homicide, accused of beating his 64-year-old mother with a shovel, running her over with his car and trying to set her on fire.

John Martinez was detained after a stand-off that lasted more than five hours on the property where he lived with his parents outside of Galt and Wilton on Alta Mesa Road.

The coroner's office has not officially identified the woman killed, but Sal Naranjo, who lives just a property away, said his wife was good friends with her.

"It hurts my soul, you know, to hear something like that happened," Naranjo said. "She used to buy vegetables from her, stuff like that."

Sheriff deputies and SWAT swarmed the scene after a worker called in that they saw a woman lying on the ground on the property Wednesday.

It launched a homicide investigation, ruling out the husband as a suspect who was out of the country. However, Martinez was unaccounted for.

That's why the standoff lasted several hours until law enforcement officials finally detained and arrested Martinez.

"She was a very nice lady, Christian lady," Naranjo said.

St. Christopher's Catholic Church in Galt confirmed with CBS13 that the woman who was killed was an active member of their church. They declined to comment further but said they are praying for everything that has happened.

"I still can't get it through my head," Naranjo said.

Both Naranjo and law enforcement did not know the 29-year-old well.

"He's got a very limited criminal history," said Sergeant Amar Gandhi with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Office. "His last contact with us was back in 2018. He was arrested for a restraining order violation."

The gruesome details uncovered by investigators unsettled the typically quiet small town.

"The mother is everything to their sons," Naranjo said. "I don't know if he did it or not. I just know she had problems with him, and if he did do it, it's unbelievable that a son could do that to his own mother."

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Office said it still has not determined a motive.