After graduating from university, she went to work at a state-owned television company in Chiapas in the early 1980s, but she encountered various forms of censorship that convinced her to pursue a career in print media.
From a young age, Martínez Pérez wanted to be a journalist; after graduating from high school, she left her hometown to study journalism at Universidad Veracruzana (UV).
[1][6] Her journalistic career in Veracruz, however, faced several challenges from the political elite; governors and government secretaries wanted to censor Martínez Pérez for criticizing their administration.
She wrote over 63 reports covering political assassinations, natural disasters, authority abuses, human right violations, corruption, and government mismanagement.
[8] In Proceso, Martínez Pérez was an open critic of government corruption and abuse of authority, and wrote extensively on the local drug trade and organized crime.
[10] Among her last publications before her murder was a political profile about Reynaldo Escobar Pérez and Alejandro Montano, two politicians of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who were running for office in Congress.
[6][10][13] Martínez Pérez was murdered early in the morning of 28 April 2012 in her home in the Felipe Carrillo Puerto neighborhood in Xalapa, the capital of Veracruz.
[4] When police went to her home to investigate in response to a neighbor's call about her door being open all day, Martínez Pérez's corpse was found on the bathroom floor.
After some conversation, Domínguez grew angry and started beating Martínez Pérez with the intention of forcing her to reveal where she hid her money and other valuable possessions.
Martínez Pérez unsuccessfully tried to defend herself by grabbing a kitchen knife and stabbing one of the attackers in the forearm, but they managed to overpower her as she only weighed 108 lbs (48.9 kg).
Both men then stole a plasma TV, two cellphones, a laptop computer, a camera and a small box, and the journalist's wristband from her home before leaving the crime scene.
Sources close to the Committee to Protect Journalists stated that the samples collected at the crime scene do not match those of any of the criminals listed on the national database.
[22][23] In April 2013, Proceso stated that it had received classified information that its senior editor who was covering the investigation, Jorge Carrasco, was a possible target by corrupt Veracruz officials.
[24][25] Many journalists continue to dispute the facts in the case, believing that the murder was retribution for reports by Martínez Pérez on drug trafficking and political corruption; they have questioned the investigation by the state of Veracruz.
Given the high levels of corruption, criminal impunity, and drug-related attacks against the press all across Veracruz, many local journalists have decided to leave the state and relocate in other parts of Mexico.
These criminal groups are fighting for Veracruz because of its lucrative smuggling routes for contraband, drug trafficking, and illegal migrants heading to the United States.
[38][39][40] The PRI has long been criticized for being corrupt and allowing the drug trafficking organizations in the country to operate freely if they maintained relative peace.
[48] The law also establishes several preventative measures to protect journalists, such as providing them bodyguards, armored vehicles, bullet-proof vests, security cameras, wireless equipment and satellite cellphones to communicate in case of any danger, and temporary relocation if deemed necessary.
[49] Congress passed a law on 7 June 2012 that allowed the federal government to investigate attacks against journalists, crimes which used to be under the jurisdiction of state and municipal forces.
"[52] On 29 April 2013, the Chamber of Deputies of Mexico observed a moment of silence to remember Regina Martínez, after a proposal made by Manuel Rafael Huerta from the Labor Party (PT).
[53][54] In 2020 Forbidden Stories coordinated reports of international journalists on Mexican drug cartels,[55] which included continuation of Martínez Pérez' work.