Gunman in deadly Gwinnett County hotel shooting pleads guilty to murder, receives life sentence for killing a stranger

LAWRENCEVILLE, GA – An Alpharetta man pled guilty to shooting and killing a stranger at a Norcross hotel after accusing his girlfriend of flirting.

Demetrius Tyree Martin, 38, pled guilty to felony murder and two counts of aggravated assault for the May 2021 shooting death of  Enrique Romero Sanchez, 45. Martin agreed to serve a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

“This killing was senseless,” Gwinnett District Attorney Patsy Austin-Gatson said. “Violence is never acceptable, and we will always hold those who commit crimes like these accountable to the fullest extent of the law. We pray that the outcome of this case provides some solace for the family and loved ones of Mr. Sanchez.”

Martin became angry after several arguments with his girlfriend on the afternoon of May 8, 2021. He accused her of flirting with a man that was staying in a hotel room upstairs from theirs. He left the motel where they were staying and went to a friend’s home to get a pistol-rifle – a pistol with an extended barrel and an extended ammunition cartridge, according to the investigation.

Martin returned to the hotel, and surveillance footage showed that he knocked on several doors upstairs from his Room 129. No one answered the first door he approached, Room 231, where a group of women were staying. He left and went to his room. When he returned upstairs, he knocked on the door of Room 229, which was next door to the first room he approached.

He waited, but no one answered Room 229. Sanchez and Fracisco Garcia Carmona were in Room 229 but had no interaction with Martin. Also, neither knew Martin or his girlfriend. Martin went downstairs and walked to the curb across from Sanchez’s room. 

Martin spent almost five full minutes pondering his actions while on the curb across from Room 229. Martin fired 17 shots into the hotel room that Carmona and Sanchez were in, killing Sanchez and wounding Carmona. He then left the scene.

Martin accepted a plea agreement on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026, and received the life prison sentence.

Managing Assistant District Attorney Marlene Oldeen and Assistant District Attorney Jared Lee prosecuted the case with assistances from Investigator Shayla LaCosta and Victim Witness Advocate Korinne Haskins. The Gwinnett County Police Department and the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office were invaluable in closing the case.

Demetrius Tyree Martin /Photo via Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office