Man Who Posted Pic Of Dead Wife On Facebook Formally Charged
SOUTH MIAMI (CBSMiami) – The man who allegedly confessed to killing his wife and posting the picture of her bloodied body on the social media website Facebook, was formally charged Thursday morning.
Derek Medina was arrested August 8th with shooting and killing his wife Jennifer Alfonso, 26, in the kitchen of their South Miami townhouse.
Prosecutors filed a 2nd degree murder charge.
Through his attorney, Medina entered a Not Guilty plea and requested a trial by jury.
"What we are going to have to do is review the discovery and review the evidence to formulate an appropriate defense," said Medina's attorney Saam Zangeneh.
Medina was arrested after he apparently posted a message on his Facebook page in which he confessed to killing wife then posted a gruesome photo of her body. She was slumped over on the floor with blood on her face and arm, her knees bent and her legs bent back behind her.
In his status line, he apparently wrote, "I'm 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."
Police only found Alfonso's body in their townhouse after Medina turned himself at the South Miami Police Station.
Alfonso's 10-year-old daughter was in the home at the time but was not hurt. She is now in the custody of her biological father, according to authorities.
According to Medina's arrest affidavit, he and Alfonso got into a heated argument in an upstairs bedroom of their condominium, at which point he grabbed a gun and pointed it at her. He said Alfonso left the bedroom, then later returned to tell him she was leaving him. Medina then went downstairs and confronted Alfonso in the kitchen, where she began punching him, the affidavit says.
Medina went back upstairs to get his gun. When he returned with it, Alfonso grabbed a knife. Medina said in the affidavit that he was able to wrestle the knife away and put it in a drawer, but that she began punching him again. It was then that he shot her several times, according to the affidavit.
Medina's attorney told CBS4's Peter D'Oench that he had several defense strategies.
"We have self defense, stand your ground, castle doctrine, there's a slew of them and we are going to look to see what's appropriate," said Zangeneh.
Prosecutors initially charged Medina with first-degree murder but prosecutors filed a second-degree murder charge which means he would not face the death penalty if convicted.
The families of Jennifer and Derek left the courthouse Monday without talking to reporters.
There's a status hearing scheduled for mid-October and a tentative trial date was set for November 4th.
If convicted of second-degree murder he could face a life sentence behind bars.
