An Albuquerque woman has been sentenced for her role in the gruesome hatchet murder of a man at a local motel.

Angel Salazar, aged 40, received a life sentence after being convicted of felony murder, second-degree murder, and tampering with evidence in the death of Ramon Martinez, as announced by Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman on Thursday. Salazar was found guilty of these charges by a jury in August.

On the morning of Sept. 5, 2023, Martinez was sitting and smoking outside a room at the Days Inn on Central Avenue in Albuquerque. Salazar and a man who has still not been identified were seen approaching him just before 10 a.m. and then following him inside the room, police said.

Law&Crime previously reported that a suspect, whose identity remains unknown, was seen donning brass knuckles before entering the motel room. Approximately 30 minutes later, both suspects exited with bloodstained arms, during which time investigators believe Martinez was killed.

“Martinez was struck over 80 times with a hatchet,” Bregman stated. “Security footage showed Salazar and an unidentified man entering the victim’s motel room and leaving with his possessions. The video also captured Salazar’s bloody footprints as she left the scene.”

Later that day, around 5 p.m., authorities discovered the victim’s body. A call reported a body in a motel room, with a trail of blood leading to the street, approximately 100 feet away, according to a police news release at the time.

The victim had cuts to the back of his head and a wound to the shoulder, the Albuquerque Journal reported, citing a criminal complaint. In addition to the bloody footprints found on the ground outside of the room, investigators reported finding blood on both beds inside.

Salazar was tracked down near another hotel less than a mile from the murder scene. After she was detained, she requested medical treatment for fentanyl withdrawal and a cut to her finger, authorities said. Detectives tried to interview her, but she declined to make any statements, officials said.

Per New Mexico law, an inmate sentenced to life imprisonment becomes eligible for parole after 30 years.