Transcript of Sasha Skare

An up-and-coming musician is murdered in his luxury apartment.

He was on his back, and you could see dry blood bleeding from his head.

The bullet hole lined up with him looking out the peephole.

Investigators quickly realize this won't be an ordinary case.

His family was related to the global superstar Beyoncé.

Video evidence suggests the killer is someone close to the victim.

There's motion activation on his camera, and it's a young lady walking past his apartment.

I think my husband is injured.

You could see that she was carrying a handgun in her right hand.

I believe that's who he was currently seeing since we've been separated.

But is it the jealous girlfriend or the angry ex?

He told me that she was pregnant, but that it wasn't his child.

I just started I started hearing stuff like, yeah, she's talented, but there's something a little off about her.

All I could think about was just hoping that he can get that justice that he deserves.

On January 26th, 2021, San Antonio police receive a call from a woman requesting a welfare check at an apartment complex on La Cantera Parkway.

La Cantera Parkway, that immediately signals something high profile. It's a very affluent neighborhood.

The woman says her 34-year-old stepson, Martell Deruane, hasn't been returning her calls for the past 4 days.

My family and I, we would always talk to him, like, a lot, will talk to him very frequently. And we weren't hearing from him, which was not like Martell at all.

Officers arrive at the address a little before noon.

When we got there, I really thought it was just going to be a welfare check, maybe. Person sleeping, on meds, doesn't want to talk to nobody.

But as soon as they get to Martell's door, They realize this isn't going to be a routine visit.

We did notice that on the door there was a bullet hole. The bullet hole was about eye level, just to the left of the peephole, and you could see right directly through it.

The officers ask building maintenance for help, but when they try to unlock the door, they discover it's bolted from the inside.

In order to gain entry, they had to drill through the lock on the door.

As soon as I opened the door, you could see the body on the ground. He was on his back, and you could see dry blood leading from his head. And as soon as I saw that, I knew that he was deceased.

Using the description from his stepmother, police identify the victim as Martel Derouen. And notify his family.

They made the call saying that he was murdered. You're so hurt to where you don't even know how to process it. We didn't know anything that was going on. That's what confused us the most because we were trying to figure out who could possibly want to do something like that to him.

Martell Lord Derouen was born June 18th, 1986, in New Iberia, Louisiana.

Growing up, he was very talented. He can paint really well. Like, he was a very good artist. He always loved music. In high school, he wrote raps, he did poetry. So music was always something that he had as a calling.

Considering his other family members, it wasn't hard to figure out where Martell's musical talent came from.

His family was related to, obviously, the global superstar Beyoncé.

We're related through her mother's side of the family, and it's through the grandmother's side.

Martell's high school sweetheart, Joya Jenkins, was his biggest supporter.

They kind of grew up together and were a young love that blossomed.

But instead of immediately pursuing a career in music, Martell decided to follow in his stepfather's footsteps.

So he had a strong relationship with his stepfather. And his stepfather was in the Marines. So that was something he wanted to do. He was in the Air Force. He was the type of person, if he wanted to do something, he would go out and do it. He didn't really look into other people's opinions.

While stationed in San Antonio, 21-year-old Martell and 20-year-old Joya tied the knot.

Martell worked in the intel department, so he had ranked up pretty quickly. But unfortunately, he had an injury with his hands, so he couldn't do what his job was anymore.

He was discharged after 6 years. But he and Joya decided to stay in San Antonio and build a new life.

He had a lot of different things that he was branching off into. He designed sneakers. He did, like, a lot of different things. He was a very multi-talented person. His biggest thing was he was trying to professionally produce and mixing and mastering music. So he had a studio in his home where he would do engineering and that he would mix all of his recordings. Martell's stage name was Cardone, and that was actually originated from our father. He gave him that nickname when he was maybe a teenager.

Under his stage name Cardone, Martell became something of an overnight sensation, collaborating with other stars on several records.

He was really starting to reach a point in his career where he was starting to get really well-known. His career was really starting to take off.

He started promoting himself and pushing himself out there to where he had got a distribution deal with Sony, the archet.

In 2019, Martell began recording his official debut album. Unfortunately, the demands of a burgeoning music career began to take a toll on his marriage.

So from their relationship, no matter what or whatever differences or whatever they wanted to do with branching off, they were always the best of friends. It was more so their views with careers and just things that they had where they wanted to do different things.

He and Joya eventually separated, renting out their home and moving into separate apartments.

They were still really close. They still would be together. They would still hang out. But they just had different things they wanted to branch off into.

They lived a mile apart from each other. All indications, given the lack of conflict between Martel and Joya, was that there may have been a chance of reconciliation.

Everybody seemed to think that they wanted to eventually get back together, and it's why they never officially divorced. I think they both just needed time and wanted to work on their passions before they fully committed to that next step of a relationship, which was having children and settling down.

But any hope of a reconciliation is now gone. Martel has been killed by a single gunshot, and investigators are searching his apartment for clues to kickstart their investigation.

Police could tell he'd been there for a few days, and the blood was starting to kind of dry up around him.

What I noticed in particular about Martell's body is where it was lying. He was on his back on the floor, feet closer to the door, a lot of blood around him. We had that bullet hole in the door, so we knew he was a victim of someone shooting from the outside in. The bullet hole appeared to be to his forehead. It lined up with him looking probably out the peephole when he was shot.

But a search of the apartment reveals something curious. Despite the fact that the fatal shot came from outside the apartment, investigators find evidence of an altercation inside.

The apartment, it was in disarray. There were some broken dishes, and the bedroom was kind of messed up. The bed was messed up. And so it appeared that there was some type of scuffle in the apartment.

We found in the closet an empty gun box and some other evidence in a container that showed that he had a firearm, but we couldn't find it. We knew what kind it was. We knew the make, model, and caliber, a 9mm. But we just couldn't find a firearm there.

To police, it looks as if he might have been shot with his own gun.

The story that his apartment starts has to tell is one that's mysterious. It's confusing. There's been some kind of a scuffle or a conflict.

But the only person there, of course, is Martel. Our biggest challenge was figuring out who was there with him.

Coming up, a 911 call on the night of the murder gives police a suspect.

OK, what's going on? I'm trying to get in my apartment, but— I'm not able to get in.

But when she was asked for the address of where she was, that was not where she was, nowhere close.

After analyzing the crime scene, homicide detectives believe Martell Derouen was arguing with a visitor sometime before he was shot.

We didn't have any idea who might have been there or what the scenario was that led up to this fight and then the shooting. But there was good evidence there to tell us the story of what happened.

There's some women's shoes, some clothes. It appeared that there was a woman there.

I see that there's a lot of broken things, a lot of broken glass, some furniture overturned, things like that. Moving through the apartment, we go to the back bedroom, and I notice that the bed is broken. Another piece of evidence at the crime scene was a broken— or an acrylic fingernail, the kind that women typically wear. It had broken off, and it was on the bed. We did collect that, hoping that maybe there was some DNA evidence on there.

Next, detectives canvass the complex, hoping someone saw or heard something. When speaking to Martel's downstairs neighbor, they learn she often overheard arguments coming from Martel's apartment. The most recent happened around 8:30 PM, January 22nd, 4 days ago.

She's made several complaints to the management about arguing or loud noises and music from that apartment. So she just thought, okay, I'm gonna— I'll have to report this to the management again, but I'll record it so I can have something to show them, some proof to provide.

It was a cell phone video. It was directly downstairs, and you don't see anything. You know, she has it pointed kind of up toward the ceiling, and you hear two people arguing, a male and a female. You don't hear what they're arguing about, but you do hear yelling and screaming back and forth between two individuals.

We were able to establish then that something happened that previous Friday night on January 22nd that led to the shooting.

The neighbor who lives across the hall from Martell says she witnessed something as well.

She describes how she's in her apartment, just kind of hanging out for the evening, and she is waiting for food. She starts hearing loud banging. She assumes it's her door, that that person's delivering her food. But when she opens the door, it's not her food.

She found a young lady knocking on Mr. Darun's door.

They obviously notice each other, and she just says, oh, I'm just, you know, I'm trying to get back in. He's not letting me in. And she's like, I wanted nothing to do with it. I just closed my door and I go back inside.

The neighbor across the hall remembers seeing a woman who was skinny, African-American, 5'5" or 5'6" in height. And she remembers her not wearing shoes. But there was no other real significant features about this woman.

When her food does finally arrive and she goes back to the door, she says that woman is no longer there. So she just carries on. She doesn't hear or see anything else happen.

It starts to paint a clearer picture that the two may have had an argument and she was clearly out of the apartment. It does lend some credibility to the idea that the person who may have been involved in this crime is a woman that Martel was involved with romantically.

The neighbor didn't hear a gunshot, however. And strangely, no one else in the building did either.

That apartment complex is situated very close to an amusement park that does fireworks, a fireworks display every night, and it's extremely loud. So they thought that it was the fireworks that night.

But police do find a record of a woman calling 911 that night.

She was concerned because there was a hole in the door. And she thought her husband was inside, and maybe he was hurt.

In the 911 call, she said, I need someone to come check my husband. My name is Joya. We're at this location. I don't have a key.

She claims to be Martel's wife and says that she can't get into the apartment, that he's put her out of the apartment, and she's just trying to get back in, but also that she may need him to get some medical care.

The woman gave her name and address, but by the time police arrived, they found no sign of Joya.

When they looked for the apartment number that she provided, they found it was located in a building that wasn't even constructed yet. It was still under construction.

Officers tried to reconnect with the caller but got no response.

They couldn't give a report. And they just explained, well, there's nothing here because this is a building not finished. So that's why when they responded, they didn't find Martell that night.

Detectives have a lot of information that's starting to build. They have this 911 call that mentions the deceased victim's wife, the neighbor's eyewitness account, but they don't really know what to make of it.

I was really curious to find out as much as I could about that call. So I requested the audio.

While waiting for the 911 audio, investigators call Martel's wife, Joya DeRuyan, to the scene.

It's clear to them that her reaction is one of shock. There's some deep loss and sadness there for her.

They wanted to know if at any point their relationship was ever physical, if there was any domestic violence. And she was very quick. She said, no, we didn't have that kind of relationship.

She said, you know, we're separated, but it's amicable. We get along. We stay in touch.

Joya tells police the last time she saw Martell was Thursday the 21st. She says he texted her that Friday. But claims she did not go to Martell's apartment.

I did ask Joya if she called 911 on that previous Friday night. She said she did not.

If Joya is telling the truth, the question for detectives is, who called 911?

I did ask that Joya be provided a ride to the homicide unit office so she could provide a more detailed statement, and she willingly did that. When I got back to the homicide office, first thing I did was listen to the 911 call. I really wanted to hear that audio and find out if it would help us kind of figure out what was going on.

What it starts to paint is a picture that whoever called in that 911 call is somebody who very deliberately tried to present themselves as a different person. That obviously becomes an area of concern for detectives.

Investigators have just obtained the mysterious 911 call. Eager for answers, they take a listen.

Okay, what's going on? Um, I'm trying to get in my apartment, but I'm not able to get in, and, um, I see like I'm just not able to get in, and I think my husband is injured. Do you live there? Yes, I do. And what is your name? My name is Joya Deron. Spell the first name. Joya. G-A-O-I-A. Okay. And your husband's name? Martell. Last name? Deron. D-E-R-O-N.

O-U-N. After reviewing the 911 call, detectives zero in on how Joya spells her name with a J, not a G. And that's not the only thing the caller got wrong.

When she was asked for the address of where she was, she gave the street name O'Connor Road. That was not where she was. Nor were close. Another thing was she didn't know how to spell Deruan. She couldn't spell it properly. That was another indicator that the person calling was not Joya for sure. I also noticed the voice was different. It wasn't the same voice as Joya's, who I had spoken to quite a bit.

That the 911 call is made by somebody representing themselves as Joya, but in fact, it's not Joya. This is somebody who, at least after the crime, took some very calculated steps. To evade authorities and to distract them and to confuse them.

When investigators ask Joya if she has any idea who the caller might be, she tells them one name springs to mind.

It's Sasha. Sasha. Last name Skare, S-K-A-R-E. And I believe that's who he was currently seeing. Now since we've been separated. In the beginning, it was more of like a teacher-student type relationship where he was trying to develop her music and all that stuff like that.

He was still with Joya at the time, and then they became more intimate after Joya and him obviously separated.

She believed that knowing Martell was dating Sasha, it could only have been her. Sasha would have known her name. Sasha would have probably pretended to be her to keep attention off herself if something bad had happened.

From the outside looking in, maybe this was a love triangle that just went wrong.

Okay.

And with the new girl hanging around, I know you said you guys kind of broke it off. How did that make you feel?

Did it make you feel jealous?

No, I don't necessarily get jealous. It was just more or less the issues that he was not trying to deal with. Versus another woman.

They remained great friends throughout their entire separation. She was a hairstylist, so she did his hair still. And they talked often.

He would confide in Joya. He would tell her Sasha would get violent, that, you know, she would want to fight and was causing problems.

It's a situation where we have a new girlfriend. Who was jealous of the close relationship that Martell still had with his estranged wife.

Joya's take on what happened to Martell was it had to be Sasha who was involved. She couldn't think of any other person or any other reason why someone would want to hurt him. Joya showed us on social media the profile page for Sasha, and we could see pictures of her.

So that gave us a good lead, good starting point Using the information gathered from social media, investigators compare Sasha's scar to security camera footage taken the night of the shooting.

A few people had some Ring video cameras on their door. One in particular on the floor below Mr. Derouen's apartment had some footage, and he allowed us to look at it. Those are motion-activated cameras. So when he left, it was activated, and you can hear him go to the elevator. And when he gets to the elevator, you can hear the elevator come to that floor, the ding, the doors open, he gets on, and he departs. About that same time, we could hear a pop, which we believed was probably the gunshot. Shortly after that, there's another motion activation on his camera, and it's a young lady walking past his apartment door who matches the description of the female seen banging on Mr. Derouen's door.

She's walking down the hallway in a summer dress, barefoot. Very much looks like somebody who just ran out the apartment.

What we saw on the social media page for Sasha was very similar to what we saw in the videos. In the apartment complex.

And the woman is not empty-handed, as Martell's neighbor believed.

You could see that she was carrying a handgun in her right hand and her cell phone in her left hand. You could see certain things, tattoos that were exposed that matched with the tattoos you could see on the ring video from the apartments. At this point, we knew it was Sasha. We needed to find her. We needed to talk to her.

Coming up, investigators look into Sasha's past.

They were going to a drug deal and something went down.

And they find this isn't her first violent encounter.

She grabbed the gun and started dragging him outside of the apartment.

After confirming the ID of the woman in the ring video as Sasha Skar, investigators run a background check and learn that 21-year-old Sasha has spent most of her adult life in nearby Austin, Texas.

I met Sasha through a music event. We were doing a local hip-hop show. It was like a house party. I was introduced to her, and then after that, she came onto my podcast because I interview like a lot of, um, up-and-coming artists, mainly in the, um, Austin area.

Like Martell, Sasha was an up-and-coming musician.

Sasha, she had like a lot of potential, a lot of potential. You could see from her shows, she checked all the boxes, you know, as far as the music, The talent, the persona. She was pretty much the whole package.

Hi.

Hi.

Thank y'all.

But it seems there was another side to Sasha as well.

I just started hearing stuff through the grapevine, like, yeah, Sasha, she's talented, but there's something a little off about her. They would talk about she would have, like, narcissistic type of tendencies and stuff. And at first, I thought it was just like, girls talking, you know, being jealous. With entertainers and artists, I mean, we're all a little narcissistic in our own ways, you know? But when I heard that about the shooting with Sasha, I'm just like, OK. Kind of connect the dots there. Like, maybe they were really, you know, seeing something that I didn't.

Police records in Austin show Sasha was involved in another another shooting 2 years ago. The victim was a young man named Andrew Bass.

Andrew and Sasha met in San Antonio. He told me that they crossed each other's path walking on the East Side and exchanged information and kind of became friends at that point. She ended up needing a place to stay. And so that's how they came together, both to my house, but like as a unit, boyfriend and girlfriend. They were sweet together, and she looked like she was good for him. They went back and forth between San Antonio and Austin a lot because I know she was working on music.

Despite Sasha's talent, the young couple were struggling to get by.

Sasha and Andrew lived with me for several years. Andrew told me that she was pregnant, but that it wasn't his child. She went to Florida when she had to have the baby and then came back. The baby stayed with her mom in Florida. She came back to Texas with Andrew. Then at some point, Sasha's mom moved to Austin, Texas because she had the baby, and they kind of would go back and forth between my house and Sasha's mom's house in Austin, Texas. They were working, saving money, you know, taking care of the baby, traveling back and forth. Trying to build a life for themselves, really. But he and Sasha, you know, made a really poor choice.

The police report shows the previous shooting incident occurred on November 29th, 2019.

They were going to a drug deal and something went down and a shootout occurred.

Andrew didn't want to go through with the payment. In his head, he's probably done this before and wanted to do it again. Let's see if I can get some weed for the free. So I guess Andrew had took out his gun, and I guess the guy felt threatened by that. The guy shot him. Sasha grabbed the gun and grabbed the weed and then started dragging Andrew out to the car. Side of the apartment.

Sasha managed to get Andrew to the car where she called 911, but Andrew died before he could be taken to a hospital.

Detectives are heavily dependent on what she's willing to tell them to try and put the facts together about what happened. Ultimately, Sasha is charged with aggravated robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

She was out on bond when The incident with Martell happened, so she wasn't even really supposed to be in San Antonio.

Now we've identified Sasha. We know that's who we need to get. The arrest warrant is obtained.

Investigators track down Sasha's current address, but when they show up to arrest her, she's nowhere to be found.

We knew we were going to have to start looking for her, so I get in touch with the US Marshals Service, who then starts their manhunt. So we're actively now searching for Sasha with an active warrant for murder.

It's February 2021, and authorities in San Antonio, Texas, are on the hunt for Sasha Skar in connection with the shooting of Martel Derouen. Knowing she might be armed and potentially dangerous, investigators distribute Sasha's photo to the media.

The case did capture some media attention, which was good for us. We wanted it out there that we were looking for Sasha Scar.

Martell's family relations with Beyoncé, that was kind of like the key thing that people were like, wait, who? They got everybody talking.

While US Marshals join the manhunt, investigators investigators continue building their case against her.

My next step was to get anything to the crime lab that needed to get there so we could, uh, keep moving forward with the investigation. The autopsy was performed on Mr. Derouen. A projectile was recovered from Martell and was confirmed to be a 9mm, which is the same caliber as the gun that was missing from Martell's apartment.

Detectives also obtain Martell's phone records from the night in question.

That gave us all the text messages from the night that he was killed. So we saw the conversation between him and Sasha, and it was very telling. He explained to her he was upset because she was bringing other men around. He didn't like that, and he had asked her to stop. But she kept doing it. And he had confronted her about it. And we think that's what started this big fight between the two of them. You see in the text messages, he tells her, I had to defend myself. You attacked me. I had to get you out of here. But you need to bring my gun back.

The final message was sent minutes before the gunshot was recorded on the doorbell footage. When police track the number Sasha used to text Martell, they discover some valuable information as well.

She was on the move. They were able to determine she was coming back to Texas, and they were getting close to pinpointing where she was. But before they could do that, Sasha actually turned herself in.

My name is Sasha Scar. After I seen The news and everybody telling me, "You're wanted." I realized that I was wanted for murder. I called my lawyer, and my lawyer just walked me through, like, as far as the process would go. The main thing that was on my mind was, like, my son. I can't just run away from everything. Like, I have to deal with this because I have a family.

After charging her with murder, I went to interview Sasha Askar at the jail. She seemed exhausted. You could tell she'd been on the run. What I want to do— the reason I'm here is to give you an opportunity to give your side of the story. Story of what happened, okay? You'd be willing to do that?

Not without my lawyer present.

Okay. You do have an attorney? That's okay. She had her opportunity right then to really explain to me what happened that night, but she chose not to. She didn't want to talk, but we had a search warrant to get her DNA sample.

Sasha's silence leaves the evidence to speak for itself.

Himself. We were able to get a DNA sample from Sasha that did match up with the female DNA on the acrylic fingernail. So we knew that was her nail, and it probably was broken off during the fight. At this point, my work is done. We pretty much have everything. I'm waiting for it to get to trial.

In August 2023, Sasha appears in court for a plea hearing.

We were told by some of our sources at the courthouse that, hey, they're offering a plea. We believe the terms are 20 years. I thought for sure, oh, she's going to take it, right?

It was a very favorable plea agreement, which would have taken the death penalty off the table.

My lawyer made it a point to know that At the end of the day, this is your choice. I didn't take the 20-year plea because I was really just thinking about my son. I don't want to be away from him that long. That was really my main thoughts. Like, I don't want to be away from my son that long, so I'm not going to just sign my life away. Like, I at least want to put up some type of fight.

All I could think about was just hoping that he can get that justice, that— He deserves, because we'll never have Martell again.

In August 2023, 2 and a half years after Martell Deruane's murder, the trial for his accused killer, Sasha Scar, finally begins. Sasha pleads not guilty to his murder.

The entire case that the prosecution presents is, is overwhelming. It's overwhelmingly against Sasha. Their theory is that they got into an argument and he kicked her out. She didn't like it, but before she left, she took his handgun. He was maybe ending things. And she knew when she got his attention to come to the door, that was her opportunity, and impulsively shot through the door.

According to the defense, however, that isn't what happened, and they let Sasha set the record straight.

What I was really taken aback with was the fact that Her attorneys let her take the stand. That's rare. That hardly ever happens.

She presents a side of Martell and a narrative about what happened that night that's entirely different.

I had an art show in Austin, and he had a music show in San Antonio. So our plan was to come together, work on the show that we have planned together, and the same night, go to our shows. We had been drinking, and I remember I was on the phone with a videographer trying to do business and get some videos done. He comes in and he's like, you know, "What are you doing? Like, you need to get out." You're in my house with— on the phone with other dudes. He starts grabbing my purse and everything, and I snatch it, and I'm like, "Don't touch my stuff." I was in an abusive relationship one time, so after that relationship, I was like, "I'm not gonna take that from anybody." ever again. After I snatched it, he tackles me onto the bed and starts hitting me. And when he starts hitting me, I'm fighting back, trying to get him off me. Like, I'm clawing his face. I'm trying to push him off. But, you know, it was not easy. And he started choking me. I started blacking out to where, like, I couldn't breathe, and that's when I panicked.

It was like, "I just need to do something. He's not stopping." And my first instinct was to grab the gun. I was like, "Don't touch me. Don't touch me." And I was backing up. I started throwing everything. I started throwing dishes on the floor to kind of separate us. And after that, I jumped over the counter because the glass was all over the floor. That's when I ran out. I was just trying to find an escape at that moment. It just really got out of hand more than I ever planned it to.

According to Sasha, What happened next was an accident.

She claimed that she realized that her belongings were inside. She was knocking on the door trying to get back in. He wasn't responding, according to her story, and she was banging on the door with the gun.

She says when she does that, it accidentally just goes off.

It was an accident. Um, I didn't intend to actually shoot him and kill him, you know, because, you know, he was my friend. Why would you want to— why would you want that to happen to somebody you were close with?

However, the evidence doesn't support Sasha's story.

They have her demonstrate how the gun went off. But if you look at the door from Martel's apartment, the bullet hole is directly straight into the doorway. And so that just doesn't line up forensically. She had said she jumped over a counter. The prosecutors took a photo. On the counter— it's not a very big counter—

are bowls.

He's like, how did none of these bowls move?

On August 31, 2023, the jury renders their verdict.

They came back within a few hours with a guilty verdict. And then she was subsequently sentenced to 55 years in prison.

It was a lot for that, hearing the verdict. But watching my family burst out into tears and hug each other, that was one of the best feelings I can probably say I've had in my life.

I think justice was served, but it's a very sad case. It shouldn't have happened.

Everybody's always asking me, oh, like, Um, did you, uh, kill Beyoncé's cousin? But at the end of the day, like, that's not who he was to me. I never want anybody to be harmed. I've always wanted to spread love. This contradicts everything I live for.

Martell's death was a very huge impact on my family. We still grieve over him every day. We always celebrate his birthday as if he was still here. We'll go visit him. We're all special in our own way, but Martell was a huge inspiration.