Friends gave KSEE24 News a picture of Clifford St. Martin. He was 36 and living with his girlfriend in a Visalia home near Race and Floral. He was shot him early Monday morning in his driveway and didn't survive.
Donald Beck heard it all from across the street, "There were six quick shots, I was on the couch and I jumped up and I just had this weird feeling."
He walked out and found Martin on the ground. He says it looked like he had been shot in the head and upper body. "He was slumped over, he was laying on his front. You could see the steam coming out of his mouth, he was slowly breathing," Beck added.
Martin was pronounced dead at the hospital. Sgt. Candido Alvarez said it wasn't gang related and investigators are searching for surveillance video, "We would certainly look for that, including residences there... it is a residential area but not far away there are some businesses."
Neighbors say Martin seemed nice but he had a grudge with someone in the neighborhood. They say he had a shoot out with that person about a month ago.
Beck said, "I heard they had been fighting with the neighbors, a family member of the neighbors and it was a retaliation."
Visalia police reported that 32-year-old Edgar Lugo was arrested at about 5:00 p.m. Monday, and charged with St. Martin's murder. Investigators say that St. Martin was dating the mother of Lugo's child, and there was tension between the two men.
This is the city's first murder of the year. If anyone has any further information, they are asked to call the Visalia Police Department at 734-8116.
TXT 24
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