Derek Medina, a 31-year-old Miami man, was recently charged with first-degree murder for shooting his wife multiple times and then posting a photo of her body on Facebook. Medina has entered a not-guilty plea in the case.
Medina told investigating officers that he was acting in self-defense when he shot his 26-year-old wife, Jennifer Alfonso, at their Miami home on August 8.
According to Medina, Alfonso repeatedly punched Medina in the chest, arm and temple during an argument.
Medina claims that he feared for his life.
Medina said as he argued with his wife, Alfonso pulled out a kitchen knife, which Medina claims he grabbed from her and put away. He claims that she began to punch him, at which point he grabbed his firearm.
He fired all rounds into his wife, killing her.
Medina took a picture of his wife’s corpse and posted it on Facebook with the caption, “Im going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife love you guys miss you guys take care Facebook people you will see me in the news my wife was punching me and I am not going to stand anymore with the abuse so I did what I did I hope you understand me.”
Medina claims to have taken the picture to let his wife’s friends and family know what happened and to tell them that he murdered her.
This case has received attention because Medina’s legal team believes that the death of Medina’s wife was self-defense. However, forensics reports show that his wife was on her knees with her arm raised in a defensive manner at the time of the shooting.
Before admitting to the crime and showing up to the police station, Medina told his 10-year-old daughter not to open the closet where he left his wife’s dead body. He then went to his aunt’s house where he told his family what happened and said goodbye.
Medina was charged with shooting a deadly missile, second-degree murder and child neglect. In early December, the murder charge upgraded to first degree because investigators believe that the incident was premeditated.
Medina’s defense team is currently requesting additional drug tests on Alfonso’s body for Alpha PVP, also known bath salts, because pills containing traces of the drug were found in their home in a bottle of garlic supplements before the shooting took place.
Designer drugs like bath salts can have numerous effects on people, including agitation, paranoia, increased pulse, hallucinations, high blood pressure and suicidal thoughts or behavior.
Alfonso was seen on surveillance cameras taking pills from the garlic supplement bottle, but her body was found to be drug-free after the initial toxicology report.
Medina’s defense is requesting more testing because most typical toxicology tests don’t pick up on unusual or newer drugs such as Alpha PVP.
