A Connecticut woman charged with the March murder of a registered sex offender did an internet search for “Does God forgive murderers?” on the day police suspect she shot him, according to investigators.
The woman, identified as 27-year-old Cynthia Martinez, is accused of fatally shooting 29-year-old Derick Mercado-Labonte, whose body was found in a wooded area behind a condominium development on Talcott Forest Road in Farmington, according to court documents reviewed by The Christian Post.
In an affidavit of probable cause filed in the Connecticut Superior Court earlier this month, Farmington investigators charged Martinez, who is currently in custody on a $3 million bond, with murder, tampering with physical evidence, illegal discharge of a firearm, and criminal use of a weapon.
“Based on the statements of witnesses in the area, it was determined that Derick was likely murdered on the night of 3/16/2026 at approximately 21:00 hours. A silver Audi A4 belonging to Derick was located in the parking lot of the American Red Cross (209 Farmington Avenue),” investigators note in the affidavit.
Investigators say when they found Labonte’s body on March 19, Labonte did not have any cellular devices on him. They were able to connect Martinez to Labonte’s murder through data from her iPhone, which investigators say she used to ask about God forgiving murderers on March 16.
“Area dump data from T-Mobile showed that Cynthia’s device was located within several areas that Derick’s device was located on 3/16/2026, including the two locations in West Hartford, after the suspected time Derick was murdered,” the affidavit states. “Cynthia’s iPhone 15 in a red case had an internet search on the morning of 3/16/2026 asking if God forgave murderers.”
An autopsy report shows that Labonte was shot twice, once in the back of the head and once in the left shoulder. Investigators say that shell casings found near Labonte’s body, as well as a bullet found in his clothes, came from a gun owned by Martinez. Labonte’s DNA was also found on the trigger of Martinez’s gun, and her DNA was found on the front passenger side seat belt receptacle of his car, even though she told police she did not know him at the start of the investigation.
“During two interviews with Cynthia, she stated she did not know who Derick Mercado-Labonte was and refused to provide any additional information. Derick’s device data and Cynthia’s device data confirms contact between the two was made or attempted on 3/14/2026, both incoming and outgoing,” the affidavit states. “It was later discovered that Cynthia and Derick were both at the Forbidden Llama in Middletown, Connecticut during the late night hours of 3/13/2026 through the early morning hours of 3/14/2026.”
The investigation also found that shortly after Labonte’s death, Martinez “took time off from work for mental health reasons.”
Labonte was on Connecticut’s sex offender registry for a 2019 conviction on charges of third-degree sexual assault and risk of injury by sexual contact with a child under age 16, according to the New Haven Register. The victim was a 6-year-old girl known to Mercado-Labonte in his former hometown of Thompson. While he was sentenced to six years in prison in October 2019, he was released in October 2022.
Martinez’s mother, Jessica Hughes, is trying to raise $6,000 in a GoFundMe campaign to help with her daughter’s criminal defense.
“Cynthia Martinez is my daughter, and she has recently been arrested for homicide of a repeat offender child rapist. Her case is still under investigation, but she is at risk of life in prison,” Hughes wrote.
“Cynthia has no criminal record and is a very smart and ambitious young woman. She went to school for massage therapy, was working two jobs, and has her own apartment and car. Cynthia is a sweet, caring person, and it truly breaks my heart that she has lost her freedom.”
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