A Buffalo pastor is facing a murder charge in connection with the shooting death of a teenager nearly 12 years ago.
Police say Jose Figueroa, 31, quickly confessed to the crime after a recent tip led them to him. Figueroa had apparently turned his life around in recent years and police believe his faith is a big reason why he confessed.

The murder happened on a January night in 1998. Two masked men smashed in the door of the home at 392 Grant Street and shot 17-year-old Alex Martinez. "He was shot a couple of times in the presence of his girlfriend with the baby in the house," say Buffalo Police Commissioner H. McCarthy Gipson.

The killer's trail though went cold until recently. "We actually got information on this about a year ago," says Detective Brian Ross of the Buffalo Police cold case squad, "The information could not be validated at that time but with the tip we received a couple of weeks ago the same names came up and we re-evaluated."

Detectives homed in on Figueroa of Carolina Street. Police say Figueroa works as a cleaner and serves as a pastor although it's not clear with what church. Police brought Figueroa in for questioning on Monday and say he quickly confessed. "He showed remorse, accepted responsibility for his actions," says Ross.

Martinez's family no longer lives in the Grant street house, but police have been in contact with them since the arrest. "The child is now 12-years-old and now he knows what happened to his father and that's bringing comfort to his family at this particular time, but they're still working through the emotions of this fast moving case," says Ross.

Police are not revealing the motive for the murder and the police commissioner says they're being tight-lipped with some information because their investigation is not over yet. They're still searching for a couple more suspects they believe were involved. Anyone with information that could help should call the homicide squad at 851-4466.