Indiana

Man charged with fatal W. Asheville shooting extradited from Indiana; arrest detailed

Published

1 year ago

September 15, 2023

Man charged with fatal W. Asheville shooting extradited from Indiana; arrest detailed

ASHEVILLE – A 47-year-old murder suspect in a Sept. 2 West Asheville shooting that left one man dead is now in custody in the Buncombe County Detention Facility after being extradited Sept. 14 from the Dubois County Jail in Indiana.

After Asheville Police Department officers responded to reports of shots being fired just before noon on Sept. 2, they discovered Ismael Munoz, 37, with several gunshot wounds in a residence on East Oakview Road, according to an APD news release. Munoz died from his wounds before Buncombe County EMS could transfer him to the hospital.

Arturo Cordero Martinez, 47, was charged with first-degree murder following the results of a search warrant executed on the scene by Criminal Investigations Division detectives and forensic technicians, according to the news release. However, Martinez fled the state before being arrested.

Asheville Police Department Sgt. Charles Wells contacted Indiana State Police Trooper Connor Giesler to assist in apprehending Martinez, informing Geiser that the suspect was traveling from Asheville to Colorado in a 2001 Ford Mustang bearing a Tennessee license plate, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Citizen Times Sept. 14. Martinez’s phone was “actively being tracked by Asheville PD,” according to the affidavit.

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ISP troopers were informed the suspect’s vehicle was traveling west on Interstate 64 near the 115-mile marker in the early afternoon hours of Sept. 2, according to a news release from ISP.

Giesler located Martinez’s vehicle on I-64 and conducted a traffic stop, taking Martinez into custody “without incident,” according to the news release. During his arrest, ISP troopers believed Martinez was driving while intoxicated, without an operator’s license and while in possession of cocaine.

After ISP troopers took Martinez into custody, he admitted to Trooper Villanueva “that he had used cocaine approximately 30 minutes prior to being stopped,” according to the affidavit.

In addition to the first-degree murder warrant out of Asheville, Martinez was taken to the Dubois County Security Center and processed on the charges of possession of cocaine, operating a motor vehicle without a license and three counts of operating while intoxicated, including a charge of having a blood alcohol concentration of .08 or higher.

However, Dubois County Prosecutor Beth Schroeder informed the Citizen Times that she will not be filing these additional charges against Martinez.

“I am not filing charges on him because I do not want him here,” Schroeder said. “They are taking him back to North Carolina on his murder warrant. … There’s nothing wrong with those charges, I just don’t want him being tied to Dubois County. He can go back to where he came from.”

Schroeder said she could file the charges in the future if issues arise, but she doesn’t plan to right now. She said Martinez will be extradited to Asheville in the “very near future,” but didn’t give an exact date due to security concerns.

Aaron Sarver, spokesperson for the Buncombe County Sheriff Office, confirmed Sept. 14 that Martinez is listed on the inmate log, meaning he is currently being held in the Buncombe County Detention Facility.

Martinez was living in Asheville at the time of the shooting, according to Schroeder.

Asheville police have not responded to multiple questions on whether Martinez or Munoz lived at the address where the shooting took place or if the two men knew each other.

When ISP troopers arrested Martinez, the following items were found in his vehicle, according to the affidavit:

A black Taurus-brand 9mm pistol.
A black Taurus-brand 9mm pistol magazine.
A spent 9mm cartridge.
Brass knuckles.
A blue Motorola-brand cellphone.
A small plastic bag containing a powder substance that field tested positive for cocaine.

Martinez has an add-on court date of Sept. 14, according to an online jail database.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. News tips? Email Ryley at rober@gannett.com. Please support local, daily journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

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Indiana

Dangerous cold across central Indiana Tuesday night

Published

5 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Dangerous cold across central Indiana Tuesday night

Below-zero temperatures are in the forecast Tuesday night, so protect your family, home and pets. But there is a day in the 40s in the seven-day forecast.

INDIANAPOLIS — Dangerous cold is in the forecast overnight with lows going below zero and wind chills near -15 into Wednesday morning.

Forecast

Tonight: Clear and very cold — Lows minus-10 to 0 degrees.

Wednesday: Sunny and cold — Highs 15-20 degrees.

Thursday: Mostly cloudy with a few flurries and snow showers — Highs in the lower 30s.

Friday: Some sun, more mild with highs near 40 degrees.

Remember your home, family and pets need extra attention when it gets this cold. School delays are possible early Wednesday.

You will need all of the layers on Wednesday. It will be sunny, but it will be cold with highs in the teens.

We are tracking a gradual warming trend for later this week and the start of the weekend. Forecast highs are in the lower 30s on Thursday. A few flurries and snow showers are possible on Thursday, too.

The big weather story on Friday is forecast highs near 40 degrees. Friday will also be a dry day.

Our next weather system arrives Friday night and brings rain and snow chances.

More cold air is in the forecast for early next week.

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Indiana

Chicago weather forecast: Light snow coats city, NW Indiana on Tuesday

Published

13 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Chicago weather forecast: Light snow coats city, NW Indiana on Tuesday

ByABC7 Chicago Digital Team

Tuesday, January 14, 2025 3:02PM

Light snow coats I-80 in NW Indiana | VIDEO

Video captured by ABC7 shows drivers slowly moving down I-80 in Indiana as snow coated the corridor.

CHICAGO (WLS) — Light snow coated the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana on Tuesday.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

ABC7 meteorologist Tracy Butler said the snow would be an inconvenience during the morning rush.

However, the snow was forecasted to clear out by midday in the Chicago area.

Snow could linger in NW Indiana until 10 a.m.

Butler said the highest total seen by 9 a.m. was two inches.

Some areas in Indiana could see up to three inches by the time the front passes through.

Video captured by ABC7 shows drivers slowly moving down I-80 in Indiana as snow coated the corridor.

As the snow winds down, temperatures are likely to drop a bit and so will the wind chills, Butler said.

Illinois State Police said they are on the Emergency Snow Plan,

Cook County Radar | DuPage County Radar | Will County Radar | Lake County Radar (IL) | Kane County Radar | Northwest Indiana Radar

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Indiana

US man charged with stalking WNBA and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark

Published

20 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

US man charged with stalking WNBA and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark

Clark told police she feared for her safety and had altered her appearance in public after receiving the messages on X.

Police in the US state of Indianapolis have charged a man from Texas with a felony for stalking Women’s NBA superstar Caitlin Clark.

Michael Thomas Lewis is accused of repeated and continued harassment of the 22-year-old Clark beginning on December 16, the Marion County prosecutor’s office wrote in a court filing on Saturday. Jail records show Lewis is due in court on Tuesday.

Lewis posted numerous messages on Clark’s X account, according to an affidavit from a Marion County sheriff’s lieutenant.

In one, he said he had been driving by the Gainbridge Fieldhouse – one of the arenas where the Fever play home games – three times a day, and in another, he said he had “one foot on a banana peel and the other on a stalking charge”. Other messages directed at Clark were sexually explicit.

The posts “actually caused Caitlin Clark to feel terrorised, frightened, intimidated, or threatened” and an implicit or explicit threat also was made “with the intent to place Caitlin Clark in reasonable fear of sexual battery,” prosecutors wrote in the Marion County Superior Court filing.

Lewis could face up to six years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

The FBI learned that the X account belonged to Lewis and that the messages were sent from IP addresses associated with an Indianapolis hotel and a downtown public library.

Indianapolis police spoke with Lewis on January 8 at his hotel room. He told officers he was in Indianapolis on vacation. When asked why he was making so many posts about Clark, Lewis replied: “Just the same reason everybody makes posts,” according to court documents.

He told police that he did not mean any harm and that he fantasised about being in a relationship with Clark.

“It’s an imagination, fantasy type thing and it’s a joke, and it’s nothing to do with threatening,” he told police, according to the court documents.

In asking the court for a higher than standard bond, the prosecutor’s office said Lewis travelled from his home in Texas to Indianapolis “with the intent to be in close proximity to the victim”.

The prosecutor’s office also sought a stay-away order as a specific condition if Lewis is released from jail before trial. Prosecutors requested that Lewis be ordered to stay away from the Gainbridge and Hinkle fieldhouses where the Fever play home games.

Responding to the threats, Clark told police she feared for her safety and had altered her appearance in public.

“It takes a lot of courage for women to come forward in these cases, which is why many don’t,” Marion County prosecutor Ryan Mears said, according to The Indianapolis Star.

“In doing so, the victim is setting an example for all women who deserve to live and work in Indy without the threat of sexual violence.”

Clark, 22, was the number one overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft after a celebrated career at Iowa. She earned All-Star and All-WNBA honours and was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year in the 2024 season.

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