Woman held in killings identified

Police on Monday identified a Fontana woman who was arrested the day before on suspicion of killing her husband and two daughters.

Bertha Martinez, 35, who was charged with three counts of murder, is being held without bail at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga in connection with the deaths of Marcello Martinez, 59, and the couple’s daughters, Amy, 7, and Yomay, 8 months, Fontana Police Sgt. Jeffrey Decker said.

Decker said Bertha Martinez did not speak with investigators. Fontana police earlier identified her as Burtha Martinez and her husband as Marcell Martinez.

Investigators believe that Marcello Martinez died from blunt head trauma and the children were suffocated, Decker said, although autopsies are pending. The bodies were found about 10 a.m. Sunday.

-- Molly Hennessy-Fiske