FL-More information about this murder we posted about yesterday- The post to his Facebook friends was as chilling as the photograph that followed it. “Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys, miss you guys takecare Facebook people you will see me in the news,” said the Thursday morning post on Derek Medina’s Facebook page. The South Florida man then apparently posted a photo of his 26-year-old wife’s body slumped on the floor and turned himself in to police, who late Thursday charged him with first-degree murder. Miami-Dade police said the 31-year-old Medina turned himself in to police after Jennifer Alfonso was fatally shot inside the couple’s home in South Miami, a suburb of Miami. When officers responded to the home, they found Alfonso’s body, as well as her 10-year-old daughter, who was unharmed. According to the affidavit, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Medina said the couple became involved in a heated argument in an upstairs bedroom when he armed himself with a gun and pointed it at her. He said Alfonso left the bedroom, returning later to say she was leaving him. He says he went downstairs and confronted her in the kitchen, when she began punching him. He claims he went back upstairs to get his gun and confronted her again, at which time she grabbed a knife. Medina said he was able to disarm her and put the knife in a drawer, but that when she began punching him again, he shot her several times, the affidavit says. The post about the slaying on a Facebook page identified as Medina’s went out to friends at 11:11 .a.m. Thursday. The post claimed that his wife was punching him and that he wasn’t going to stand any more abuse. However, YouTube videos linked to his Facebook page earlier this week show him working out in a martial arts studio, punching and kicking a heavy bag. The next and final post — also at 11:11 a.m. and titled “Rip Jennifer Alfonso” — was a gruesome photograph showing a woman in black leotards slumped on the floor. She looked like she had fallen backward from a kneeling position, with her legs bent to her sides and blood on her left arm and left cheek. The photo was up for more than five hours before Facebook removed the page late Thursday afternoon. A Facebook spokeswoman said in an email to The Associated Press that she couldn’t comment on a law enforcement investigation but could provide a general comment from the company. “The content was reported to us,” the spokeswoman wrote. “We took action on the profile — removing the content and disabling the profile, and we reached out to law enforcement. We take action on all content that violates our terms, which are clearly laid out on our site.” Police declined comment on the Facebook posts. Public records show that Medina and Alfonso first married in January 2010, divorced in February 2012 and then remarried three months later. Medina bought the condominium unit where the couple lived in March 2012 for $107,000. On his Facebook page, Medina claimed to be a supervisor at a property management company and to have appeared in the Miami-based crime drama “Burn Notice,” though his name doesn’t appear in online credits for the show. Photos posted by Medina on Wednesday show the family enjoying a meal alongside an unnamed marina and lounging beside a swimming pool. Police said in the arrest affidavit that Medina never called 911, only turning himself in to police after going to see family and confessing. According to an arrest report, Medina admitted to investigators he got into an argument with Alfonso. The report said he went upstairs, fished his pistol from a closet and pointed it at Alfonso. Alfonso yelled she was “leaving him,” according to the report by Detective Jonathan Grossman. Then, Medina — still brandishing the weapon — followed her downstairs to the kitchen, where she grabbed a knife. Medina said he disarmed Alfonso, put the knife in the drawer, then shot her several times after she began punching and kicking him, the report said. Alfonso’s former boss at a West Miami-Dade Denny’s told the Miami Herald that the husband was extremely jealous and had hit Alfonso in the past. “She would be bruised up,” said Amada Cooper, who described Medina as a controlling husband who tried to force her to quit her job as a server because he didn’t want her working nights. After several violent episodes, another co-worker implored Alfonso to leave him. “He would always come back, begging her … come back,” said Cathy LaBella. “She would say he was going to change. She was in love with him.” Medina and Alfonso initially married in early 2010 after dating only a few months. The marriage was stormy and friends said he would often kick her out. The two always got back together, however. They divorced in early 2012, then remarried a few months later, records show. Cooper said the two fought often because Medina, most recently a property manager at a posh Coral Gables condo building, could not hold a job for more than a few months. “He wouldn’t even let her talk on the phone,” Cooper said. “He always waited for her outside. One time, he went storming in, looking for her, telling her to get outside.” Another friend, who did not want his name used, said Medina once threatened to kill him and another pal on Facebook after deciding “they weren’t real friends.” He also recalled that Medina, during one of his break-ups with Alfonso, had angrily blasted the young woman on his Facebook page. At Denny’s, where she worked as a server, Alfonso was known as a dependable worker with a loyal customer base, who worked the graveyard shift to care for her daughter. “She was a beautiful person,” LaBella said. “Her daughter was her pride and joy.”
Posted on: Fri, 09 Aug 2013 16:43:10 +0000
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