Cameo Clines and Antoinette Martinez case on Snapped: Behind Bars - A detailed case overview

In the summer of 2014, San Antonio, Texas, became the scene of a crime spree that shocked the community. Young couple Antoinette Martinez and Cameo Clines, both in their early 20s, turned a troubled romance into a path of violence.

Driven by financial strain and a desire for quick cash, they lured two unsuspecting young men to Martinez's apartment under the pretense of romance. What followed were brutal robberies and execution-style shootings in remote rural fields, leaving the victims bound, robbed, and fatally wounded.

The case exposed a web of manipulation, confessions, and cold calculation, as the pair targeted individuals for their money and vehicles to cover rent and other needs.

The murders of Xavier Cordero Jr., the son of a San Antonio police detective, and Steven Rendon highlighted the dangers of predatory schemes hidden behind everyday interactions. 

This story is explored in depth in Oxygen's true crime series Snapped: Behind Bars. Season 3, Episode 5, titled Cameo Clines, features Clines' first on-camera prison interview, reflecting on the events.

The episode aired on December 7, 2025, on Oxygen and is available for streaming on Peacock.

Snapped: Behind Bars: The relationship of Cameo Clines and Antoinette Martinez 

Antoinette Martinez and Cameo Clines had met in San Antonio, immediately developing an intense bond and comparing themselves to outlaw legends Bonnie and Clyde.

Both in their late teens when they hatched their desperate act, there were everyday pressures, such as paying rent. Martinez had been working at a local Burger King.

Clines had some previous minor troubles, but they were not described in reports as having a violent past. Their relationship, later described by Cameo Clines as manipulative, saw Martinez's role in planning schemes for money, as per Express News. In mid-June 2014, this escalated beyond petty theft.

On June 12, Martinez orchestrated a robbery at her workplace. Posing as a victim, she stole the night's deposit with a coworker's help, fabricating a story about a masked intruder to cover their tracks. They split the proceeds for clothes and food. 

Days later, on June 26, Clines targeted a Shop N Go convenience store. Armed with a handgun, he demanded to see the manager, then shot the clerk in the face during the holdup.

The clerk survived, but the incident triggered a police standoff, leading to Cameo Clines' arrest at Martinez's nearby apartment, according to CBS News. 

The luring and execution of the victims

The murders began on June 18, 2014, when Martinez contacted Xavier Cordero Jr., a 20-year-old she knew from a past relationship. Promising a s*xual encounter, she invited him to her apartment on San Antonio's south side.

Once inside, Cameo Clines ambushed Cordero at gunpoint. Martinez helped bind his hands and feet with duct tape while Clines robbed him of cash and keys.

They forced the terrified young man into the trunk of his own car and drove to a secluded cow pasture in southeast Bexar County, near Braunig Lake on Donop Road, as Express News reported. 

There, Clines shot Cordero multiple times in an execution-style killing. His body was discovered the next day by a rancher, bound and lifeless in the field.

A week later, on June 25, the pair repeated the scheme with 19-year-old Steven Rendon. Martinez created a fake profile on a social media dating site to lure him, again promising intimacy. 

Rendon arrived at the apartment, where the same trap awaited: gunpoint confrontation, binding with tape, robbery of money, and his vehicle. Unlike Cordero, they removed the tape briefly so Rendon could show them how to start his car.

They then drove him to a remote cornfield in southern Bexar County and shot him dead. His decomposed body was found five days later, on June 30, according to Ken5. 

The investigation and confessions in Snapped: Behind Bars

The breakthrough came swiftly after the Shop N Go shooting on June 26, 2014. Cameo Clines' standoff at the apartment complex drew Bexar County Sheriff's Office deputies, who arrested him on site.

A search of Martinez's apartment uncovered critical evidence: a handgun matching the murder weapon's description, along with driver's licenses belonging to Cordero and Rendon. 

This linked the pair directly to the killings. Martinez, arrested the next day on June 27 for the Burger King theft, was questioned by San Antonio Police Detective Jesse Luna.

In a three-hour video interview on June 30, Martinez confessed in detail, appearing composed as she crossed her legs and leaned casually, as per CBS News.

She outlined the luring tactics, bindings, robberies, and drives to the fields, admitting the shootings were planned for the cars and cash. 

Cameo Clines also confessed post-arrest, describing his role in the executions. Bonds were set at $1 million each, and both faced capital murder charges.

The investigation revealed a pattern: the bodies' locations were rural and hard to connect initially, but the IDs and gun tied everything together.

No serial killer fear panned out beyond these two murders, but the speed of linking the crimes to the couple prevented further harm, according to Express News. 

The trials, convictions, and later reflections

Through the ensuing years, the cases were prosecuted in court. In January 2016, Cameo Clines pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in a deal that spared him the death penalty. He got two life sentences without parole, with another 20 years tacked on for the Shop N Go burglary and shooting.

During Martinez's trial before Bexar County's 175th District Court in 2017, Clines testified, saying he was the shooter, and asked jurors to reduce the charge against Martinez, describing her as under his sway.

Prosecutors countered with the video confession, emphasizing her active role and ruthlessness, as per Oxygen. Following two hours of deliberation on September 19, 2017, a jury convicted Martinez of capital murder.

Texas law required life without parole; the state did not seek execution. The defense argued manipulation by love, but evidence showed her planning the lures and bindings.

Since conviction, both are serving time, Cameo Clines at Clemens Unit and Martinez in a women's facility, according to KSAT.

Watch Snapped: Behind Bars season 3, episode 5, available on Oxygen True Crime.