Suspect In Custody & Charged Hours After Wednesday PM Murder
DeSoto Police have a suspect in custody and charged with murder for a Wednesday evening beating death that was reported shortly before 5:00 PM on the 700 block of Tara Drive. Police and Fire Department paramedics quickly responded to the emergency call and found 45-year-old DeSoto resident Benjamin Stephens lying by the side of a house unresponsive. Paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Police investigated and soon took 19-year-old DeSoto resident Ociel Martinez into custody and charged him with Felony One Murder for the fatal beating of Stephens who lived with him in a nearby group home on the 600 block of Jamille Drive. Because the two men knew each other, and the fact that Martinez is already in custody, DeSoto Police stress that there is no threat to the general public.
