Teen shot dead at Chula Vista Walmart

Chula Vista police said 18-year-old Walmart employee Keyeon Martin was shot and killed on May 19 after a fight in the parking lot of the Walmart on Eastlake Parkway. Officers were called around 10:30 p.m. to the store in the 1300 block of Eastlake Parkway and found Martin with a gunshot wound, according to police and local reports. He was taken to a hospital, where he died. Police identified Thomas Perez, 32, as the suspect and said he called 911 after the shooting and turned himself in. ### Who was Keyeon Martin? Keyeon Martin was an 18-year-old Chula Vista resident who had graduated from Chula Vista High School and had been a track athlete there, his mother told KGTV. She said he had been working at Walmart collecting carts for several months and loved the job because he liked talking with people. (10news.com) Martin’s mother described him as a “proud nerd” who read the dictionary for fun and wanted to build an e-commerce business, according to KGTV. A GoFundMe page set up for the family also said he had hoped to own his own business. ### What do police say happened in the Walmart parking lot? Chula Vista police said the shooting followed a fight between Martin and Perez in the parking lot. (10news.com) KGTV reported police said Perez pulled out a gun during the confrontation and shot Martin, then called 911 and waited for officers. NBC San Diego reported the shooting happened at about 10:30 p.m., and officers found Martin suffering from a gunshot wound when they arrived. (10news.com) The initial police account did not identify a motive and said the investigation was continuing. ### What has Martin’s family said about the confrontation? (10news.com) Martin’s mother told KGTV that prosecutors have surveillance video of the encounter. She said there was an argument, that Perez punched her son, and that Martin was defending himself before the gun was fired. “She says he was not a fighter” was her account of her son’s character, and she told the station she wanted justice in the case. (nbcsandiego.com) KGTV also reported that Perez pleaded not guilty to a murder charge several days after the shooting. ### What is known about the suspect and the case? Thomas Perez was identified by police as the customer involved in the confrontation with Martin, according to KGTV. (10news.com) Local coverage said he was 32 at the time of the shooting, though one later report from another outlet listed him as 33; KGTV, which named him in both reports, described him as having been booked on a murder charge. San Diego Superior Court and District Attorney online portals are publicly available for case tracking, but the search results reviewed here did not provide a directly linked docket entry naming the next court date. The clearest published account available from local reporting is KGTV’s statement that Perez pleaded not guilty several days after the shooting. (10news.com) ### When and where can people pay their respects? Glen Abbey Memorial Park & Mortuary listed Keyeon Gustavo Martin’s visitation for Friday, June 5, 2026, at 3838 Bonita Road in Bonita. The obituary page said the visitation is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. KGTV reported the viewing would be open to the public and listed the same Glen Abbey location. (sdcourt.ca.gov) The station’s June 1 report said the family was preparing for the service as they mourned Martin’s death two weeks after the shooting. (10news.com) (dignitymemorial.com)