FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — Editor's Note: This story has been updated to include the name of the second soldier charged in connection to a murder. At the time this story was published, the name of the second soldier was redacted in Spc. Rene D. Heber's charge report from Army officials.
Family members of a U.S. Army sergeant who died on post last year are speaking out, saying they do not believe Army officials are being honest and open about the circumstances regarding his death.
Sgt. Alfredo Martinez died on Aug. 27, 2023. The family told Univision in Austin that Army officials said he died by a gunshot wound that morning.
"They really weren't honest with what happened to him in the first place," Martinez's brother, Adrian Renteria, said.
Renteria said what makes his death troubling is that it was always Martinez's dream to join the U.S. Army.
"The only thing that I think ruined his dream was being stationed at Fort Cavazos. He didn't like being there. I'm not sure what's going down there and I don't want to know, but those were his words and I'm being sincere about what he told me. He did not like being stationed at Fort Cavazos," Renteria explained.
Renteria said his brother, in and out of uniform, was a family man who was especially fond of his nieces with the feelings being mutual. He used his leave to spend time with his family and used his free time to play basketball and work out.
"He was like a little kid. He was a 30-year-old soldier, but once he was out of his uniform, he was like a 17-year-old kid," Renteria said.
Martinez's family has been told by their lawyers to refrain from speaking on details regarding his case.
According to a charge sheet for Spc. Nicholas B. Lowery, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division Sustainment Brigade, Lowery reportedly killed a sergeant by shooting him in the head with a handgun on between Aug. 26, 2023 and Aug. 27, 2023. His charge sheet also states that he lied to law enforcement and tampered with evidence from the crime scene.
Earlier, 6 News obtained the charge sheet for Spc. Rene D. Heber, the other Fort Cavazos soldier charged in that murder, which detailed that Heber knew Lowery shot and killed the sergeant, but lied to law enforcement about it, as well as tampered with evidence from the crime scene.
The name of the victim in both charge sheets was redacted.