Mario Alberto Carreto-Morales Sentenced for Murder and Kidnapping

Today, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced that a Third District Court sentenced Mario Alberto Carreto-Morales for the murder of Cesar Martinez and the kidnapping of a second victim in 2022.

On February 26, 2022, Mr. Carreto-Morales and his co-defendant, Raul Jaimes Cortez, met Mr. Martinez for the first time in an apartment parking lot in West Valley City and asked him if he could give them a ride to Mr. Cortez’s apartment in Magna. Mr. Martinez gave them a ride, then spent some time with the two men in the parking lot of Mr. Cortez’s apartment. When Mr. Martinez was getting ready to leave, Mr. Carreto-Morales told Mr. Cortez he wanted to rob the victim. Mr. Martinez had been drinking, so the co-defendants told him they could give him a ride home in his truck, and he allowed them to do so.  However, while the three men were driving in the truck, the defendant put a metal wire around Mr. Martinez’s neck and stabbed him multiple times. When Mr. Martinez opened the door to escape, the defendant pushed him out.

On March 13, 2022, the same two defendants kidnapped and robbed another individual in Park City. They forced the victim to drive to an ATM and pull out money.

On Monday, April 22, 2024, a judge sentenced Mario Alberto Carreto-Morales to 15 years to life for first-degree felony murder and 15 years to life for first-degree felony kidnapping. The sentences will be served consecutively. That is 30 years to life.

Mr. Cortez’s case continues to be an active prosecution.

“This vicious murder of a U.S. veteran who served multiple tours in the Middle East left many in our community shocked. We hope the defendant’s significant sentence will help Mr. Martinez’s family and our community begin to heal,” said Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill. “We thank our prosecutors, Rick Pehrson and Jennifer Zeleny, and our support staff for their dedication to this case. We appreciate the hard work of detectives at the West Jordan Police Department that made this prosecution possible.”