Man arrested in drug deal murder at Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier, Manatee deputies say
Detectives say the search for a man in connection to a 2022 homicide on the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier is over.
The U.S. Marshals Service arrested 34-year-old Alex Martinez in Plant City on Monday and charged him with the shooting death of Diomicio Primitivo Ibarra-Hernandez, 26, according to a news release.
The arrest brings an end to a nearly two year search by law enforcement for Martinez that offered up to $8,000 in rewards by Crime Stoppers and the Gold Star of Manatee County.
Detectives say the murder was a drug deal gone wrong.
Deputies with the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office responded to the pier on the south end of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on Oct. 14, 2022, after reports of “several gunshots” and a vehicle speeding away, the Bradenton Herald previously reported. When deputies arrived that afternoon, they say they found a man dead from gunshot wounds.
The victim was later identified as Ibarra-Hernandez.
After following several leads, detectives say they identified Martinez as a suspect in the fatal shooting.
Martinez is charged with murder with a firearm, failure to obey a written promise to appear and providing false information to law enforcement, the sheriff’s office said.
Martinez is in custody in the Hillsborough County Jail and will be extradited to Manatee County at a later date, according to a news release.
