Crime scene — Police secure the area where San Benito Police Lt. Milton Resendez was fatally shot the night before on Bus. 77 and Sam Houston Blvd. (San Benito News/Ray Quiroga)
By RAY QUIROGA
rayq@portisabelsouthpadre.com
BROWNSVILLE, TX —Rodrigo Axel Espinosa Valdez, one of two individuals involved in the Oct. 17, 2023, slaying of San Benito Police Department (SBPD) Lt. Milton Resendez during a pursuit stemming from a stop on South Padre Island, pleaded guilty to First Degree Murder in a Cameron County Courtroom Tuesday morning. He’s scheduled for sentencing on March 9, 2026.
Cameron County District Attorney Luis V. Saenz had initially sought the death penalty, and the suspects had originally pleaded not guilty.
The second suspect, Rogelio Martinez Jr., 18, at the time of the incident, a U.S. citizen from the Brownsville Southmost area, is slated to go on trial on Jan. 26, 2026 on a Capital Murder Charge.
Resendez was 54 at the time of his death and was a 26-year SBPD veteran. His death marks the first time in the SBPD’s history that an officer was killed in the line of duty.
Espinosa Valdez was 23 at the time of the murder.
Resendez was a product of San Benito public schools, graduating as a member of the San Benito High School Class of 1987 and attending Rangerville Elementary, as well as Miller Jordan and Berta Cabaza middle schools.
He later attended Texas Southmost College and the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council Police Academy. Before joining the SBPD, Resendez was employed by the Brownsville Police Department, Palm Valley Police Department, and the San Benito CISD Police Department. All told, he served over 30 years in law enforcement.
According to SBPD Chief of Police Mario Perea, during a press conference held at SBPD headquarters on October 18, 2023, Resendez was transported to Valley Baptist Medical Center by fellow officers in a police cruiser separate from his own shortly after being shot in the abdominal area that fateful Tuesday night. He later succumbed to a single bullet wound while receiving treatment at VBMC.
Events of that evening began unfolding at around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 17, as Cameron County Park Rangers stopped a red GMC pickup truck for allegedly speeding on the South Padre Island beach. The truck was occupied by two men, two women, and two children.
As a park ranger questioned the driver upon exiting the pickup, a scuffle between the park ranger and the suspect being questioned ensued, at which time, the passenger allegedly jumped into the driver’s seat, speeding off as the original driver jumped into the truck’s bed, according to DA Saenz, also during the press conference.
The pursuit continued through Port Isabel before entering Brownsville, where gunfire was allegedly exchanged between the occupants of the truck and law enforcement. According to Saenz, the women and children were allowed to exit the truck shortly after the pursuit commenced. Saenz said the women were taken into custody for questioning.
By 5 p.m., the truck was found disabled, and authorities began searching for the two suspects near the Brownsville FM 511 area.
At 10:30 p.m., the suspects were spotted in a black Ford Expedition, initiating another pursuit. At 10:58 p.m., San Benito police were informed of the chase involving Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers.
When they entered city limits through the San Jose Ranch Rd., San Benito officers engaged in the pursuit, Perea said during the October 18 press conference.
As the chase reached North Sam Houston Blvd., Resendez was fatally wounded.
According to Perea, two bullets, allegedly fired by the suspects driving the Ford Expedition while traveling Southbound on Sam Houston Blvd. in an attempt to evade law enforcement, struck Resendez’s patrol unit, one hitting the front bumper, the other entering the driver’s side door and penetrating the lieutenant’s abdomen in an exposed area under his ballistic vest.
Two suspects, Espinosa Valdez, a Mexican national, and Martinez Jr, were apprehended by DPS in Brownsville after the vehicle they were traveling in was rendered inoperable by law enforcement.
The alleged perpetrators then fled on foot before they were captured.
Espinosa Valdez, the supposed driver at the time of the incident, was initially charged with Two Counts of Evading Arrest or Detention with a Motor Vehicle and Capital Murder of a Peace Officer or Fireman and Attempted Murder (six counts).
Martinez, whom police say was the front passenger of the suspect vehicle during the alleged shooting, and shot at a state trooper, deputy constable and ultimately struck Resendez, was charged with Aggravated Assault Against a Public Servant, Attempt to Commit Capital Murder of a Peace Officer (six counts), Theft of Property, and Capital Murder of a Peace Officer or Fireman, and Possession of a Prohibited Weapon.
Capital Murder of a Peace Officer or Fireman is punishable by death in Texas.
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