AZ man sentenced in shooting death of ex-girlfriend - WTVM.com-Columbus, GA News Weather & Sports

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AZ man sentenced in shooting death of ex-girlfriend

Posted: Updated:
By Steve Stout - email
By Breann Bierman - email
(Source: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office) Victor Martinez was convicted of shooting to death Christina Hallman in her car in a Tempe parking lot in January 2010. (Source: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office) Victor Martinez was convicted of shooting to death Christina Hallman in her car in a Tempe parking lot in January 2010.
PHOENIX (CBS5) -

A man who shot and killed his ex-girlfriend in front of her 2-year-old daughter will spend the next 44 years behind bars.

Victor Martinez, 27, was convicted of shooting to death Christina Hallman in her car on Jan. 4, 2010, and a judge sentenced him on Friday to 22 years for second-degree murder and 22 years for child abuse.

Authorities said Martinez and Hallman dated for about three months during the winter of 2009. She ended the relationship and in January made arrangements to pick up her daughter's toys left at his house. Police said she arranged to be on the phone with her sister because she was concerned about meeting Martinez in person. After she got there she told her sister she was OK and that she'd text her later.

The two were talking in Hallman's car when Martinez got upset and pulled out small-caliber gun and shot Hallman six times in the head.

According to police, he then shoved her body toward the center console and drove the car from his home to a nearby business area in Tempe.

Workers in the business park began arriving before 3 a.m. on Jan. 5, 2010, and noticed a car with a driver slumped over. They believed it to be someone who was drunk. At 8 a.m., two employees discovered Hallman's body and her daughter hugging her. The 2-year-old appeared to be cold and refused to come out of the vehicle.

Martinez later admitted to the crime in an interview with police.

In January of 2012, after a five-day trial, the jury was unable to agree on the first-degree murder charge and convicted the defendant of second-degree murder and child abuse.

Stay with cbs5az.com and CBS 5 News as this story develops.

Copyright 2012 CBS 5 (Meredith Corporation). All rights reserved.

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