Girlfriend Realizes She Just Murdered Her Boyfriend

That is onion police. This is Christie. How can I help you? Well, what I was calling to find out with you guys, if I'm in Louisiana, but I have a description out there in San Antonio and family minutes have been trying to call him the faculty and we haven't been getting any response back and we wanted to know if you guys could do a wellness check based on the address and see, you know, just to see if everything's okay with him because no text messages, return no phone calls, no Instagram and we just wanted to make sure he's okay because they're in different states. And who are we checking on? Martel M-A-R-E-L-L-H-R-N-E-R-O-U-E-N. How long has it been since he's been heard from? I think the Saturday was his older brother who's in London, he's in Air Force in London and I think he said he spoke with him Saturday and that's the last. Everybody I believe spoke to him. We'll go ahead and get someone to do a buffer check for you. Officers from the San Antonio Police Department are dispatched to 34-year-old Martel de Ruins apartment on the northwest side of the city. On arrival, an officer obtains a key to Martel's unit from the leasing office. I don't know yet, we're going to go find out right now. Then he and his partner head to Martel's apartment. The bullet hole is directly above the people to officers it's an ominous sign. Officers recruit some help, and while they wait for assistance, they check to see if Martel's car is on site. Back at Martel's apartment, the maintenance team arrives. Unfortunately officers instincts are right, Martel is inside his apartment, and he's dead. Right, this is also shown at work in 72-10. We have a crime scene about a scene right here in 260's district. The individual was in answering his door, and the stepmom kept calling since Saturday they haven't heard from him, and then the door, we could see a bullet hole in, and so maintenance came out here throughout the hole, throughout the lock, and as soon as you walk in he's right down the floor. We're going to shotgun. Oh no, it doesn't look like it was two side looks, and went right to the door of the bullet hole. Homicide detectives arrive at the scene, and perform a sweep of the apartment, which is in shambles. Martel's bed frame is broken, and on top of his mattress detectives spot another sign of a struggle, a broken acrylic fingernail. Inside Martel's closet detectives also clock an empty gun case. Could Martel's missing gun be the murder weapon? As detectives continue their analysis of the crime scene, a woman approaches one of the officers stationed outside. Hi, ma'am. Is she living here in San Antonio? Oh, she's in Dallas. All right. So, if you could just stand by down here, I'm going to go talk to you all. Who stays in that apartment? It's just him by himself. That's it, just him. You don't have nobody else on the list or anything like that? No. He doesn't. All right. Let me let you know you're here, but we're going to have you have you just stay down here, okay? All right. He said that. Come on over here, ma'am. I need to get your information. Do you live here? Or? No, we're separated. Oh, you all are separate? Any kids? No. Is there anybody else in there? Can you tell me? No, nobody else is in there. No, nobody else is. No. Can you hear me? We're waiting to detectives. Come on here. Someone's going to talk to you. Okay? Come on. Look, my toe. When's the last time you spoke to him? I spoke to him on Friday. Friday? Friday? Friday? Friday? Friday? Police learned that Martell was a rising star in the hip-hop music world, where he went by the stage name, Cardone. He even had ties to one of music's biggest stars. His cousin was Beyoncé. I'll be right back with you, ma'am. As detectives arrange for Martell's wife, Joya, to be taken to the police station for questioning. There informed that just four days ago, on the night of Friday, January 22, 911 received another call about Martell. San Antonio 911, this is for a "do you need police fire" or "EMS?" I need police now. Okay, what's going on? I'm trying to get in my apartment, but I'm not able to get in. And I see, like, I'm just not able to get in, and I think my husband is injured. Your husband's hurt? Yes. Do you hear him? No, he's not responding, and I called him, and he's just not responding. There's a hole in his door, and I don't know what's going on, honestly. Is the hole in the door? Yes. Are you outside the apartment, or where are you? I'm outside the door, and I cannot get in. And you don't have a key? No, ma'am, I don't. Do you live there? Yes, I do. And what is your name? My name's Joya Duron. Now detectives have even more reason to eye Joya suspiciously. Hey folks, a quick word on something you should know about. Did you know that data brokers and other harmful sites collect and sell your private information? That's info like your phone number, your email address, and even your social security number. That's where incogni comes in. Incogni removes your data from over 420 broker sites the moment you sign up. With any unlimited plan, you get access to their new Exposure Scanner feature. Incogni looks for where your info is on the internet and brings it to you in one place. And I tried incogni and found that 407 databases had my information. Thankfully within days incogni was taking them down. They can't harm you if they can't find you. Use code "investigate" at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan. That's incogni.com/investigate. But at the police station, Joya insists she never made that call. She swears until today she hadn't been to Martell's apartments in weeks. You know what? I had a photo shoot that weekend. I can tell you exactly what you're doing. Saturday, December 26th. So Saturday? Is he yet reading you there? Yeah, my photographer. I had a photo shoot that same day, and I told him that I would drop the air mattress off after I was done. Oh, okay. Yeah. So. So before, of course, today, one was the last time you spoke to Martell Friday. Friday. So that was the 22nd? Mm-hmm. Okay. And where were you out in the 22nd? At your house. At your house? Okay. You guys talk over the phone? He texted me. The text on the phone? Absolutely. Do my father know? Okay. Okay. Those keep right here so you can see as well. So. You can scroll. Oh, so that's today. So Friday at 1.35. After that text, joyous says she didn't hear from Martell all weekend. So you didn't think it was uncommon for him to not reach out to you? Yeah. I'm in for him to reach out to not reach out to me, but when his parents call in things that is when the concern is. So if he doesn't answer them, then they'll call me and like, "Hey, have you talked to him? Or can you try to reach out to him since I'm the only one here in San Antonio?" Because his stuff out there has cancer. So if he doesn't answer them, then they know something's wrong. Joyous says when Martell's family reached out to her this morning and said he'd gone radio silent on them, she advised them to call the police. And who called 911 to get the cops over there? Um, I believe it was his stepmom who's in Louisiana because I was telling her I said I called the apartment complex. They can't do a wellness check. It has to be the police. Okay. And then if it's something they can, you know, if it's something one wrong, then they can get a key. But I think she called the non-emergency number. And then of course when you get there, what do you see? Three police cars and like a fire, like a small fire truck and then I was like, just tell me what's going on. Did you guys get in or what's happening? The only thing that they said to me was that they were able to get in and I can't tell you anything else to let us get here because let us just weren't there at that point. Yeah. Okay. So what kind of relationship were marriage did you guys have? It was great. We had a lot in common and we both loved music. I did a little music as well and things like that. Towards the end I would say the last two years is kind of when it got rocky. Martel was having issues from when he was in a military way suffering with like depression and anxiety and things like that. And so his moods and personality kind of changed and so when I was, I remember going to all of his appointments with him at the hospital, things like that and I don't know, sometimes he can get a little mean and stuff. So not to mention that with the music stuff, I really didn't like some of the people that he worked with kind of shady. But other than that, it wasn't any big major thing and just we decided to go in separate ways. He wanted to go off and do his own thing and felt like, you know, he wasn't able to give the relationship as much attention and I was like, okay, well, that's fine. Joya tells the detective that despite their separation, she and Martel remained on good terms. Even after Martel started seeing someone new. What's that girl's name? Sasha. Sasha. Is it S-A-S-H-A? Last name, Scare? S-K-A-R-E? S-K-A-R-E. You know, all she is? She's pretty, maybe, twenty, twenty-one of the most. Okay. How long did you say that their relationship, where he started hanging out with her? I'm not sure. In the beginning, it was more of like a teacher, student, type relationship, where he was trying to develop her music and all that stuff like that. But I know she was around for maybe like six months the first time. Joya says, from what Martel told her, he and Sasha had an on-again, off-again relationship. Did you guys kind of broke it off? How did that make you feel? Did it make you feel jealous? No, I don't necessarily get jealous, it was just more or less, um, it was, for me, it was more of the issue that he was not trying to deal with versus another woman. Like his mental issues, making sure that he keeps up with his appointments, his medications, and things like that, and then being aggressive towards me because he's not managing that. That was more of an issue for me of why we broke up this. Okay. Stand down, stand down, bro. Okay. He has been separated like almost two years, so, you know. You're kind of over it, kind of about that point in the two years of the long time. Um, trying to take, is there anything else that you can think of that, oh, I mean, obviously because you know him, um, we're trying to get to know, trying to get to know the circumstances that you can think of. That we should be aware of. Joyous seems cooperative, but that suspicious Friday night 911 call has detectives questioning whether she's telling the truth. But then a police canvas of Martell's apartment complex yields a monumental piece of evidence. One of Martell's neighbors has a ring camera, and the footage shifts the investigation into overdrive. On Friday night just before 9 p.m., gunfire can be heard coming from the direction of Martell's apartment. Seconds later, a woman is seen walking down the hallway with a gun in her hand. Then she walks back towards Martell's apartment. The next time she's captured on camera, she can be heard talking to someone on the phone. After analyzing the footage, detectives realize the woman in the video was the one who placed that suspicious 911 call. Only she's not Joya. She's Martell's girlfriend, 21-year-old Sasha Scar. And they realize Sasha gave the 911 operator the wrong apartment number, which explains why the responding officers never saw the bullet hole in Martell's door, and didn't investigate further. With Sasha Scar as their new prime suspect, detectives obtain Martell's cell phone records. And they find another clue. A text message he sent to Sasha just minutes before he was killed. That text message further solidifies detectives theory about what led to Martell's murder. Martell and Sasha got into a fight, and he told her to leave. In a rage, Sasha grabbed Martell's gun and stormed out of his apartment. When he texted her and told her to bring his gun back, she returned and she shot him through the front door. And it turns out Sasha has a history of violence. In 2019, she and a previous boyfriend were involved in a drug deal gone wrong in Austin, Texas. Her boyfriend was shot and killed. And Sasha went on the land. We currently have a female, a black female by the name of Sasha Scar, and we've provided you with a public flyer. She is currently wanted for aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon, $75,000 bond. She is outstanding right now. She was eventually apprehended and arrested. Records indicate she is currently out on bond awaiting trial. San Antonio police immediately issue a warrant for Sasha's arrest, then call in the US marshals to help them track her down. icks go by and while Sasha evades arrest, Martell's loved ones gather to say their goodbyes. At his funeral, family, friends, and colleagues recall his caring humble nature, his military accolades, and his determination to make something of himself in the music industry based on his talent, not his connections. The next day, after almost two weeks on the run, Sasha Scar turns herself in and is charged with murder. "I'll detect her size of San Antonio Police Department on the side unit, and I'm here to talk to you about the case that I'm assigned to, of course, Martell. Okay, what I want to do, the reason I'm here is to give you an opportunity to give your side of the story of what happened, okay? We know the incident happened on the 22nd, Friday the 22nd. So I wanted to give you the opportunity to tell me your side of the story of what happened. You'd be willing to do that? Not without my brilliant person. Okay. You do have an attorney? What I'd like to do in that case, I'm just going to leave you my card and if your attorney It feels like you do need to give a statement or would like to set something up for you to give a statement to me. - I would like to. - No, I understand. Have him or her call me? Okay, it says cell phone on the front. That's actually my direct line to my desk. Okay, have your attorney call me so we can set something up, you know, and whatever works for you. They feel like you don't need to give a statement as told me up to them, okay? Detectives never get a statement from Sasha, but they do get one final piece of solid evidence. Testing confirms that Sasha's DNA is on the broken fingernail found at the crime scene. Despite the overwhelming evidence against her, Sasha rejects a plea deal. Two years after Martell's murder, Sasha finally breaks her silence on the stand. How long have you known? - I would say we met in 2017, 2016. - And how long have you been back then? - 17. - How did you come to meet Martell? - One day, he had message me on Instagram and requested if I could be in one of his music videos. - At some point, the years of Martell's relationship moved on from business to become worthy to him. - We started becoming really close friends after about two years. We became close, we would start hanging out a lot, we would start going out together, going out to eat and stuff like that. - Did you, in Mark's hell, ever have a dating or any kind of sexual relationship with each other? - Yes, we did. - Let's start talking about the crime of January 25th, section. Where were you that day? - I was in the morning. I was at my mom's house and Martell picked me up and we ended up going to San Antonio to his apartment. - How did it start out? What did you all do when you arrived? - Well, we were planning for some shows. We had the next day and we initially agreed to come together to work on an upcoming show that we planned to have at a different date. So, with all that going on, we were just agreed to come together to work on all of it together. - Okay. So you said, if you wanted to be correct, you said that you were working on a show that you had the following day and a few shows that we're gonna be later on? - Yes. - Okay. Did y'all have dinner that day or lunch or anything? - I made dinner, yes. According to Sasha, after dinner, she and Martell watched a movie. And then she went to bed. - After you laid down with the bed, what happened next? - I was getting ready to go to sleep, I was scrolling on my phone and Martell came into the room and turned the lights on. - What happened next? - He asked me to leave and I just asked him why. - Okay. - Okay. - Yes, why did he say anything else? - Not that I remember. If, I don't remember what he said, I know that we ended up getting into an argument. - You had an argument? - Yes. - Okay. Did this, was it a verbal argument? - Yes. - Okay. If you recall, what was he saying at the time? - He was upset because he felt like I was on the phone with another man. - Did this verbal argument escalate containing any form of physical? - Yes, it is. - He testified that there's a physical altercation where he being hit. - Yes, sir. - Sasha says she broke free from Martell and grabbed his gun. - Why didn't you grab the lever? - I grabbed it to tell him, after I grabbed it, I told him don't touch me. - Okay. Were you in fear for your life at that point? - Yes, I was. - Okay. - And why were you in fear for your life? - Because up until the bed had broke, he was still hitting me and I was unable to breathe. So I was panicking at that point. - After you grabbed the lever, we got one half a mess. - I told him don't touch me. I started backing up out of the bedroom. When I backed up out of the bedroom, he started following me. I started grabbing, I started grabbing dishes out of the cabinets and throwing it in between us. - After this has got broken, what happened next? - After the dishes hung up broken, I had to go over the kitchen counter and that's when I just ran outside the door. - You went over the kitchen camera? - Yes. - And then you went outside the door? - Yes. - Okay. - Did you have a woman with you still? - Yes, I did. - Sasha says she tried calling some friends for help, then she returned to Martell's apartment to get her things. - How were you trying to get your stuff? - I was knocking on the door and he just wouldn't answer. - Were you loudly knocking, yelling? - Yes. - Okay. - Were you upset at that time? - Yes. - All right. Describe for us how were you banging on the door? - I was just banging on the door. I had the gun in my hands and I was being on the door with the gun. - Sasha says that's when the gun accidentally went off. - How, what's it demonstrate for the jury? How exactly was the gun destruction? - I was knocking on the door. Was that something in the door? I just, do a good job. I just, just, just, just, just, just. - It got me off. - Yes. - Okay. Thank you. - Yeah. And just so we're clear, could you see Martell? I don't, I know sometimes, well, some people, you can kind of see a light difference. Could you see anything beyond the people? Okay. Do you have any idea where Martell will stay behind that door? - I see. - Perfect. - After the gun went off, Sasha tells the courtroom, she called 911 and then fled the scene. - What happened to the fire, Sasha? - I had to end up just throwing it in the dumpster. - Why did you, why did you do that? - 'Cause I didn't wanna walk around with the weapon. - At that time, did you realize that Martell did you hurt, injured, or killed? - No, I didn't. - Did you mean to hurt Martell? - Not at all. - On cross-examination, the prosecution challenges Sasha's claim that the shooting was an accident. - Can you demonstrate to me how we were having to wear as you were banging on the door? - Can you show me with your hands please? - I would say they were just like this. - See, hold on, Martell. - Can you exactly ask how you remember it? - I had to go to my hand and-- - The gun is in your hand? - Yes. - Your hand element, the normal way, somebody would correct? - Great. - And if you're banging on the door, like this, the barrel's facing up. - Correct? - Correct. - You would agree with me that in order for the bullet to go through the door, the barrel would mean have been downward, straightward, correct? Facing into the door? - Not necessarily. - Not necessarily. So your testimony is a gun, it's like this, correct? And the bullet, this large, this charged, correct? You would have caught up, yes? - I didn't say discharge at that point. - Okay. Show me the moment it was this charged. - After I was knocking? - Show me with your hands please. - I just lifted it up and just shot. - I didn't-- - You lifted it up and shot? - Yes. - You lifted it up and shot? - Yes. - You would agree with me that in order for the bullet to go through the door and hit Martell, the bullet or the gun and barrel would have to be straight, you go through the door, correct? You would have agreed with me. - Not necessarily. - Sasha's 911 call also comes under scrutiny. - You lied to the 911 operator, correct? - I lied about my identity, yes. - But you did not give the operator the form of information, correct? - You didn't tell the operator that you shot? - No, I didn't. - Two days later, on August 31st, 2023, Sasha Skar learns her fate. - In 2021, CR3863, state of Texas versus Sasha Skar, verdict formed. We, the jury, find the defendant, Sasha Skar guilty of the offense of murder as charged in the indictment, signed the four person of the grand jury. In a powerful moment before her sentencing, Martel DeRouin's sister addresses Sasha, on behalf of their family. - I'm proud and thankful to have had Martel as my brother, Sasha, the pain and agony that she brought upon my family is unbearable. You deserve every single consequence that you cause for your own actions. Nothing in this world that one does will ever go unanswered, remember that. Look at what you've done. You've gathered everyone together of your old selfishness. Just to give you that the person, you truly in exactly are. How does it feel? You deserve this, your time is up, and the time has come for you to pay for what you've done. Lying, manipulating, deceiving, hurting, and destroying others emotionally and physically get you nowhere in life, but the place you will be suffering is for the rest of your life. So fix your sheets if you have them because you've made your bed and now it's time to lay in it. In the end, Sasha Skar is sentenced to 55 years in prison. And though Martel DeRouin's life was violently cut short, his legacy forever lives on through his family and his music. (gentle music)