Suspect In 2022 Skyway Fishing Pier Homicide Arrested By Police

MANATEE COUNTY, FL — A suspect wanted in connection with the 2022 death of a man whose body was found on the Sunshine Skyway Fishing Pier was arrested by police Monday.

Alex Martinez, 34, was located and arrested in Plant City by the U.S. Marshals Task Force, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. He was taken into custody nearly two years after Diomicio Primitivo Ibarra-Hernandez, 26, was shot and killed during a drug deal at the Sunshine Skyway South Fishing Pier.

Martinez faces several charges including murder, failure to appear and providing false information to law enforcement. Martinez is currently being held in Hillsborough County and will be extradited to Manatee County at a later date, police said.

On Oct. 14, 2022, deputies were called to the Sunshine Skyway South Fishing Pier after witnesses reported hearing several gunshots, authorities previously said.

When deputies arrived, they found Ibarra-Hernandez in a parked car, dead from gunshot wounds, authorities said.

Detectives said Martinez arranged to meet Ibarra-Hernandez at the pier to buy a large quantity of marijuana. During the transaction, police said Martinez fired multiple gunshots at Ibarra-Hernandez.