On Jan. 29, Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan and Whitehall Township Police Chief Michael Marks announced a third arrest in a homicide investigation. Brenda Rodriguez, 51, of Palmerton, is charged with criminal solicitation-criminal homicide, conspiracy-aggravated assault and aggravated assault, all felonies of the first degree.

Rodriguez is the wife of the victim, Hector Garcia Gomez, who was shot and killed around 6:03 p.m. Dec. 7, 2024, in the parking lot of Loco Hot Deals, 1155 MacArthur Road, Whitehall. Officers found Gomez with multiple gunshot wounds to his abdomen.

Gomez, 46, of Palmerton, died of multiple gunshot wounds, and his death was ruled a homicide by the Lehigh County coroner.

Video surveillance showed Gomez’s vehicle arrive in the parking lot. While he was inside the store, Rodriguez stayed inside the car and appeared to be on her phone.

The investigation revealed Rodriguez was providing information via her cellphone detailing her husband’s location to Liz Marie Pacheco. Pacheco then relayed the location to Christian Martinez-Ramos, who arrived minutes later to the parking lot.

As Gomez left the store and began to get inside his car, a suspect vehicle parked behind him and gunshots were fired from inside the suspect vehicle. The investigation showed the vehicle was driven by Martinez-Ramos.

After Gomez was shot, video surveillance shows Rodriguez remained inside the car for more than 22 seconds. Rodriguez eventually got out of the car, adjusted her clothing and hair and picked up several items before slowly walking into the store.

Both Pacheco and Martinez-Ramos were previously charged in this homicide.

Rodriguez was charged Jan. 28 and is in Lehigh County Jail without bail. Her preliminary hearing was scheduled for 10:45 a.m. Feb. 3 in Lehigh County Central Court.

The case was investigated by Whitehall Township Police Detective Lindsay Yetter and Lehigh County Homicide Task Force Detectives Timothy Salgado, James Bruchak and Amaury Almonte and will be prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney James A. Augustine.