Landlord shot tenant during apartment inspection: Police

Background: News footage at the scene where Michael Martin was found dead in December 2022 (KSAT). Inset (left): Joshua A. Ford (Bexar County Sheriff”s Office). Inset (right): Michael Obryan Martin (Carter-Taylor-Williams Mortuary).

A Texas landlord who got into an argument with his former tenant is now accused of that tenant’s murder.

Joshua A. Ford, 37, was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Michael Obryan Martin. Martin was found dead from a gunshot wound inside a residence in San Antonio in December 2022. According to an arrest report obtained by local CBS outlet KENS, Ford reportedly spoke with police immediately after the shooting happened. At the time, he allegedly admitted to shooting Martin in the face, but claimed it was self-defense.

Police said that Martin had just moved out of a home owned by Ford. Ford was conducting a final inspection with an unnamed witness on the afternoon of Dec. 7, 2022, when Martin showed up unexpectedly, and the two men got into an argument about rent money.

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According to the arrest report, Martin reportedly stopped paying Ford rent for two months before Ford evicted him. After Martin moved out, Ford told him he had to come back to return his key. Martin showed up during the walk-through inspection, which took place about a month after he moved out.

As the two men argued about the money Martin reportedly owed, they moved throughout the home and ended up in a utility room. Ford told police that Martin purportedly appeared to reach for a weapon, which prompted him to act in self-defense and allegedly shoot Martin twice. One shot hit him in the face.

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After the shooting, Ford told police he unloaded the gun and placed it on a kitchen island before he called 911.

Deputies from the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ford on Wednesday and charged him with murder. He is being held in the Bexar County Jail without bond.