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Fugitive Extradited in 2017 Anaheim Killing Pleads Not Guilty, Held Without Bail

Prosecutors cite a lying-in-wait special circumstance after a cross-border operation coordinated his return.

Overview

  • Humberto Rodriguez Martinez, 39, was extradited from Mexico on Dec. 4, 2025, after Mexican authorities located him in 2024 with assistance from the U.S. Marshals Service.
  • He pleaded not guilty on Jan. 6 in Orange County Superior Court and remains held without bail in federal custody under ICE requirements.
  • Orange County prosecutors charged him in 2017 with murder, alleging a special-circumstance lying-in-wait enhancement and a knife-use enhancement, with a $2 million arrest warrant issued.
  • Authorities say Martinez and a friend waited outside an Anaheim apartment on Oct. 17, 2017, then chased Daniel Reyes to Santa Ana and Helena streets, where he was fatally stabbed.
  • Co-defendant Adan Zapot-Leyva was arrested two days after the killing and in 2023 was sentenced to 15 years to life following a second-degree murder plea.