The third victim of the Corona attack, which already took the lives two other men on September 17, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday.
The Corona Police Department announced on Sunday that Ricky Lee Anderson, 51, died at about 5:40 p.m. Saturday, September 19. Anderson was the uncle of the suspect in what is now considered a triple homicide.
Brandon Willie Martin was arrested on suspicion of killing his father, 64-year-old Michael Lee Martin, and 62-year-old Barry Swanson of Riverside, who was at the home on the 1000 block of Winthrop Drive in Corona on Thursday evening. Swanson was not related, or even a friend of the other victims. Mike Lantz, chief learning officer for Defenders, the Indianapolis-based company Swanson worked for, stated that he was in the home to install a security system. Corona police say 22-year-old Brandon Martin entered the house at about 6:30 p.m. and attacked the three men.
Corona community members were shocked by the news. In 2011, the one-time baseball star was the 38th pick in the Major League draft out of Santiago High School in the city, and well known in sports circles. He played three seasons with the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system before he was released in the spring of 2015.
On the day following the murder, authorities spotted Brandon Martin driving a truck that was registered to one of the victims. According to police reports, Martin attempted to evade officers by escaping into a home that was not his, and then jumped out a back window. Martin was then incapacitated by a police K-9 and detained. He was then treated for his injuries at a local hospital and arrested.
The Press Enterprise reported that in September 2014, Martin’s father had filed for a restraining order, alleging that his son had “hit him in the face and that several months before, he had assaulted his father and put his mother in a headlock.” They also reported that two days before the attack, Brandon Martin had been detained for a mental health evaluation, which has led to speculation that Martin had mental health issues.
Read More: Press Enterprise
