Chips, salsa . . . and murder

Woman behind firefighter hit man plot is a gushing mommy blogger: Raved abouthusband target online

Brittany Martinez has been accused of hiring a restaurant manager to murder herhusband.
The restaurant? Casa Ole, the purveyor of quality, authentic Tex-Mex cuisine.

In what is likely to become the city's next "real crime" movie, a Houston woman was allegedly recently caught in the act of murder-for-hire.

That woman, 24-year-old Brittany Rachelle Martinez, is an EMT, mom and sometimes mommy blogger. In spite of vague complaints about lack of adult interaction, she comes across in writing as your typical young mom, busy with house decorating and child-rearing (she has two; a third passed away just two months after birth in 2009). She even gushed about her husband, Houston firefighter Adrian Ray Martinez, on Feb. 21:

In the overall plan of the year, Adrian and I will be celebrating our 5th anniversary this coming October, for which we will be throwing a formal party/vow renewal. We will be able to have the wedding we didn't get to have and say our vows again, this time truly understanding what those words mean. I have picked out the dress, we decided on the venue and the rest is a simple case of creativity and saving. Eeek, I'm so excited! :)

Meanwhile, Brittany Martinez was plotting, according to the police. She offered a friend — the manager of a Casa Ole restaurant in northwest Houston — something between $1,500 and $2,500 to get someone to kill her husband.

As the official criminal complaint details, Brittany Martinez first approached the restaurant manager on Jan. 17 and later dropped off a $500 down payment on Feb. 4.

The desperate wife returned to the restaurant with a copy of her husband's work schedule (with dates March 3 and March 5 circled) and a physical description of the soon-to-be victim, along with another $500 in cash, with instructions that her husband be offed before he could notice the discrepancy in their bank account. According to the Houston Chronicle, she wanted the murder to "look work related."

The manager told Brittany Martinez that he could not do the deed himself, but would hire a hit man.

The compliant describes a subsequent phone conversation, when the

DEFENDANT TOLD THE WITNESS THAT THE PERSON COMMITTING THE MURDER SHOULD PARK ABOUT A BLOCK AWAY, AND SHOULD COMMIT THE MURDER IN THE BACK PARKING LOT OF THE WORK OF HER HUSBAND. THE DEFENDANT TOLD THE WITNESS THAT SHE DID NOT CARE WHAT TYPE OF WEAPON WAS TO BE USE, SHE JUST WANTED THE JOB DONE. THE DEFENDANT TOLD THE WITNESS NOT TO CONTACT HER AFTER THE MURDER, SHE WOULD CONTACT HIM. [sic]"

The manager (who claims to know Brittany Martinez "by name and sight" because her family frequents his restaurant) recorded all of this, and then turned her into the authorities.

Brittany Martinez was arrested on Tuesday, and remains in jail without bond for the solicitation of capital murder.

Her lawyer tells KTRK Ch. 13's Demond Fernandez that Martinez was "sad and scared to death" when she appeared before a judge on Thursday morning. If convicted, Brittany Martinez could face life in prison.

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Money Matters

This is the income you need to live comfortably in Texas in 2026

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Single U.S. adults need at least $80,000 to live comfortably; in Texas, the figure is much higher.

A new national report looking at the income it takes to live comfortably in each of the 50 states has revealed Texans need to earn slightly less now than a year ago.

SmartAsset analyzed what a single individual, as well as family of four, must earn to cover minimum basic needs adjusted using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule. The resulting estimate represents the annual, pre-tax income needed to live comfortably in every U.S. state.

A single, full-time worker needs to make $90,563 to live comfortably in the Lone Star State, the report found, which is down a meager 0.2 percent from last year ($90,771).

Under the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy, that means a single Texas earner would have $45,282 to spend on necessities like housing and utilities, $27,169 for discretionary spending, and $18,113 for emergencies or retirement savings.

Texas ranked 34th nationally in SmartAsset's list of states with the highest income needed for a single adult to live "in sustainable comfort" in 2026. Only five other states — Tennessee, Maryland, Louisiana, North Carolina, and Mississippi — saw a decline in the income needed to live comfortably this year.

For a family of four to live comfortably in Texas, income requirements change significantly, according to the findings. To support a two-child household, a family needs $203,424 in combined total household income to be considered financially stable. This is down slightly from 2025, when SmartAsset reported a family of four in needed $204,922 to live comfortably in Texas.

This is a comfortable lifestyle for a family of four in Texas, according to the report:

$101,712 dedicated to necessities and living expenses
$61,027 dedicated to discretionary spending
$40,685 dedicated to emergencies, savings, or debt repaymen

According to the report, a family of four now needs to make at least $200,000 to live comfortably in 40 U.S. states, a figure that is far out of reach for many American families.

"As housing, grocery, transportation and other essential costs pressure household budgets, earning a six-figure salary no longer guarantees financial comfort in much of the U.S.," the report said. "A single adult now needs at least $80,000 a year to live comfortably in every state, while the threshold exceeds $100,000 in nearly half of states. For a family of four, the income needed to live comfortably is as much as $329,000."

Still, earning the minimum income to live comfortably in Texas doesn't guarantee financial stability in the Lone Star State's major cities. Earlier this year, SmartAsset determined single residents in Houston need to make about $90,000 to qualify as financially stable, while families of four need around $205,000.

texas smartasset reports salaries income finance