Christopher Ryan Martin was found dead in a room at the M Star Hotel in Chickasaw, Mobile County, Alabama, United States on the morning of January 30, 2024. He was 38.
Martin a gunshot wound underneath his chin. There was a 9 mm shell casing under his body near his neck.
The Chickasaw Police Department and the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office investigated Martin’s death. Based on the surveillance video taken outside of the room that morning, Cornelius Layette Smith, 48, of Mobile, Mobile County entered the room at 3:40 a.m.
At 3:41 a.m., a gunshot was heard. Afterwards, Smith left the hotel in a dark sport utility vehicle.
Mobile County Sheriff’s Office detectives and U.S. Marshals found Smith at the Island View Casino in Gulfport, Harrison County, Mississippi, USA. He was taken into custody without incident.
Smith is awaiting extradition to Mobile where he will be formally charged with murder. He will be transported to the Mobile County Metro Jail in Mobile.
CONAN Daily 