South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog
Follow Up:
In an article posted here just under ten days ago, new evidence has been uncovered in the story of Derek Medina, the man who posted a shocking image of his murdered wife on his Facebook page.
A Surveillance video was released by the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, along with Medina’s dead wife’s diary. The video shows what might possibly have been the final seconds leading up to the alleged murder of Jennifer Alfonso, by the hand and the gun of her now imprisoned husband. After the shooting, Medina posted her photo on Facebook along with comments directly showing his involvement in the crime.
Although the video doesn’t display an uninterrupted observation of the entire alleged skirmish, Alfonso can be clearly seen in the kitchen at the onset of the filming. It does show Medina enter the room, arguing with Alfonso and then exit only to return evidently with a gun, although it is not within the line of sight of the rolling camera. He is then seen making his way into the kitchen when his head snaps back apparently when his wife Jennifer punches him. Moments after that an eruption of gunpowder can be seen flying out of the kitchen denoting the 6 to 8 shots that Medina fired at his wife based on his own confession. Next, he returns with his jacket and cell phone as he allegedly takes the picture that he posted on Facebook before putting on the jacket and placing his cell phone in his pocket as he exits their home. The video concludes presenting heavily armed police entering the townhouse through the front door; concluding the released footage of the video before they discovered Alfonso’s body which is never seen on camera but discovered slumped in the kitchen.
Medina contends that his wife grabbed a knife during the scuffle, but he was able to take it away from her and return it to a kitchen drawer. This suspected circumstance is not played out within the recording.
Since my first posting, Medina has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder although it has been reported that prosecutors will likely seek a first-degree murder indictment when the grand jury returns.
Medina and Alfonso had a shaky relationship. After getting married in 2010 and divorcing in 2012 they remarried a few months later during the scope of those couple of years.
A major irony in this case is the context that Medina was an author of numerous e-books, one of them titled “How I saved someone’s life and marriage and family problems thru communication” which is a story where the main character saves his marriage after getting divorced and remarried to the same person. He also maintains a Website named EmotionalWriter.com. He marketed himself in numerous videos that he posted on YouTube and his e-books could be found and purchased on amazon.com
According to CBS Miami, Alfonso’s father is quoted as saying in reference to Medina posting his dead daughter’s image “It’s like self-promoting what he’s always done you know. To put my daughter nationwide on Facebook that’s unbelievable, unbelievable,”
But Medina’s father had a different story to tell saying that his son was only trying to defend himself. “They are making my son into an animal. He was scared of her all his life, all the relationship, because he always reported to me that he would get beaten by her,” said Medina Sr. “She pushed him to the point of insanity”.
In another bizarre twist some of the entries unveiled in Alfonso’s journal/diary told of her hearing “weird noises” and macabre sounds in their house and had the feeling of “being watched” as well as writing that she “always believed in zombies” discussing her concerns over reports of cannibalism relating to designer synthetic drugs denoted as “bath salts”.
In a December 27, 2012 entry she wrote: “I no [sic] he loves me and I no [sic] I love him just wished we had better ways of showing it. When we love each other its [sic] GREAT. But when we hate each other we HATE each other,”
In a May 22, 2012, entry, obviously displaying aggressive feelings toward Medina she wrote: “After little situations that me and derek [sic] have been through I find myself uncontrolably jelouse [sic], like want to murder type of deal,” says the diary. “His eyes start wondering [sic], more than once, of course my blood boiled and I wanted to rip his eyes right out of the socket, disrespect.”
She finished that day’s notes when she penned: “I just wish everybody could be happy!!”
As more details emerge it’ll be interesting to see how this case plays out. I’ll keep you informed.
To read my first post on this topic, click here.
[sic]: added immediately after a quoted word or phrase (or a longer piece of text), indicates that the quotation has been transcribed exactly as found in the original source, complete with any erroneous spelling or other nonstandard presentation Source: Wikipedia.com
An allegation of first-degree murder is one of the most serious charges that can be brought against an individual. A conviction in the State of Florida can carry the likelihood of life in prison without the possibility of parole or conceivably the death penalty.
If you, a friend or a loved one is facing allegations of first-degree murder or any Capital crime it is essential that a knowledgeable criminal attorney is retained as soon as possible.
Mr. Cohen is a board certified criminal trial lawyer rated AV by Martindale Hubbel (pre-eminent) and a “Super Lawyer” recognized as being in the top 5% of his specialized field (criminal trial law) among Florida lawyers. He is considered a specialist by the Florida Bar in his field. Mr. Cohen has tried scores of cases over his 35 year career and is a member of the Florida and New York Bars. He practices in Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami, among other counties. He is also admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh and Second Circuit.
Mr. Cohen’s practice has recently expanded and he is now a partner in the prestigious law firm of McLaughlin & Stern, LLP. Through this partnership, Mr. Cohen can now lead your defense in the New York Metropolitan area in addition to the Broward, Dade, or Palm Beach County areas as well as all other jurisdictions throughout the state of Florida
Mr. Cohen is also listed in the 2013 edition of “Best Lawyers in America”