A Chatham County grand jury this week indicted Addison Martinez on murder and related charges after investigators said he fatally stabbed his mother, 59-year-old Vida Martinez, inside her Wilmington Island apartment in late October and then drove off in her car. He was arrested the next day after a multi-agency manhunt, authorities said.
The case has moved from an emergency search to formal prosecution, with Martinez now facing counts of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, family violence and possession of a knife during the commission of a felony. Detectives said a daughter found the victim on Oct. 27, 2025, at an apartment on Oyster Shell Road, about 10 miles southeast of Savannah. Officers later recovered the victim’s vehicle abandoned in Pooler, which helped lead investigators to the suspect. Prosecutors say the indictment positions the case for court hearings in the coming weeks.
Police were called around 5 p.m. Oct. 27 to the 100 block of Oyster Shell Road after relatives reported finding Vida Martinez unresponsive. Responding officers and the coroner said she had been stabbed at least once. Neighbors in the Bull River Bluff community told reporters they heard screams earlier that evening. Investigators quickly identified her son as a person of interest and circulated a recent photo taken inside the apartment. By the next morning, law enforcement agencies across the area had joined the search for the 37-year-old.
Officers found the victim’s car abandoned in a commercial lot in Pooler the same night. The discovery shifted the search west of Wilmington Island as investigators checked cameras at nearby businesses and along major corridors. On Oct. 28, officers detained Martinez at a Parker’s gas station and booked him into the Chatham County jail. “We moved swiftly from scene work to a regional manhunt and were able to make an arrest within 24 hours,” a Chatham County Police Department spokesperson said in an update. Jail records show Martinez was initially booked on felony murder before the case advanced to the grand jury this week.
Authorities have not publicly cited a motive. Investigators said they collected a knife at the scene and sent evidence for laboratory analysis. Detectives also compiled phone records, surveillance video from the apartment complex and nearby corridors, and interviews with relatives and neighbors to chart the hours before the killing. The coroner’s office said the final autopsy would detail the precise number and trajectory of wounds. Police said no other family members were injured; officers had briefly staged a safety operation at a separate address out of an abundance of caution the night the body was discovered.
Public records and prior coverage indicate Martinez had been released on bond in a separate Glynn County case five days before the killing after spending months in jail. Wilmington Island, a census-designated place across the Bull River from Savannah, rarely sees homicides; the late-October attack shook the waterfront apartment community where residents described the victim as warm and active with grandchildren. The apartment sits off Oyster Shell Road near marinas and retail strips, areas with extensive camera coverage that detectives have used to assemble a timeline of vehicle movements.
With the indictment returned this week, the case shifts to Superior Court for arraignment. Prosecutors said they will file a formal notice of intent on which murder theory—or combination—they plan to take to trial. A judge is expected to set scheduling orders for discovery and pretrial motions after Martinez’s next appearance. If the defense seeks a bond hearing, it would be set separately; as of Saturday, he remained held without bond in the Chatham County Detention Center. Prosecutors said they anticipate additional filings as lab results are completed and as they review any new evidence submitted by detectives.
Residents near the complex said they saw investigators string yellow tape across the courtyard and move in and out of a second-floor unit for hours on Oct. 27. A neighbor said she watched technicians carry out sealed evidence bags and later saw tow operators remove a vehicle from a lot in Pooler. Another resident said he heard “a loud cry and arguing” before dusk. A store employee near the apartment complex said friends of the family reported hearing screams and that worry spread quickly through the community that night.
As of Jan. 24, 2026, Martinez remains jailed on the indictment returned this week, and no trial date has been set. The next milestone is an arraignment in Chatham County Superior Court, followed by routine pretrial hearings and deadlines for evidence exchange. Officials said additional updates will be reflected in court records and standard agency releases.
Author note: Last updated January 24, 2026.