Surveillance Video Released Of Facebook Murder Suspect Turning Himself In
SOUTH MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Newly released surveillance video shows the South Miami man accused of killing his wife and posting it on Facebook walking into a police station to turn himself in.
The video shows Derek Medina, 31, walking into the station with his father behind him.
Earlier Friday, Medina appeared in front Judge Maria Elena Verde at bond court.
Medina, being charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife Jennifer Alfonso, wore a protective vest reserved for psychiatric inmates and those on suicide watch.
Medina, denied bond, is being held on the 9th floor and is set to appear before Judge Teresa Pooler in 21-days.
Medina posted a picture of his dead wife Thursday morning on a Facebook page attributed to him. Medina then went to turn himself in and police arrived at the townhouse at 5555 SW 67 Avenue and found the woman's body.
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.
"I want him gone, he doesn't deserve, he doesn't deserve to live as far as I'm concerned for what he did to my daughter," said Jose Alfonso, Jennifer Alfonso's father.
The whole bizarre story started to unfold Thursday when Miami-Dade police said Medina turned himself in to police.
When officers responded to the home, they found Alfonso's body.
Prior to turning himself in, however, Medina apparently posted a photo of his wife's bloodied body slumped on the floor. 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."
According to the police 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 gruesome posting on Medina's Facebook page went up at 11:11 a.m. Thursday. The picture of his dead wife was titled "RIP Jennifer Alfonso."
The photo was up for more than five hours before Facebook removed the page late Thursday afternoon.
A Facebook spokeswoman said, "The content was reported to us. 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. As this is an ongoing law enforcement investigation, I would refer you to the authorities in Florida for any additional details."
Police declined comment on the Facebook posts.
Jennifer Alfonso's father told CBS4's Maggie Newland the couple had a rocky relationship getting married and divorced in the span of a couple of years.
"With Facebook and YouTube, he liked self-promoting himself, but for him to do something like this I'd have never expected never expected," said Jose Alfonso.
You can find Derek medina in multiple videos on YouTube and Amazon sells his e-book titled "How I saved someone's life and marriage and family problems thru communication" in which a character saves his marriage after getting divorced and remarried to the same person.
The plotline eerily similar to Medina's own situation but in real life, the ending turned tragic.
"A lot of arguing, but physical stuff this is the first that I had heard," said Alfonso.
But whatever happened leading up to Jennifer Alfonso's death, her dad says the pain was only made worse by the gruesome photo posted on Facebook.
"It's like self-promoting what he's always done you know. To put my daughter nationwide on Facebook that's unbelievable, unbelievable," said Alfonso.
CBS4's News also spoke to Medina's father, Derek Medina Sr.
"They are making my son into an animal," said the suspect's father.
He believes his son was simply defending himself.
"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."
Medina's father insists Alfonso was the aggressor.
Amada Cooper, Alfonso's boss at the Denny's across the street from the University of Miami believes Alfonso did hit Medina, but only in self-defense.
"I believe that yes she hit him to defend herself because he was a lot bigger than he was," Cooper said.
Cooper said that Alfonso would show up to work with "scratches and bruises."
Cooper also said that she told Alfonso, "Don't go back to him."
Cooper learned of her friend and co-worker's death through Medina's Facebook post.
"It kept going through my mind." Cooper said, "Justice needs to be done."
Friends told CBS4 News that the couple met at Denny's where Alfonso worked as a waitress. They first married in January 2010, divorced in February 2012 and then remarried three months later. They had a rocky relationship.
"I hope they have no pity for a coward, I hope that god can forgive you because I can't," said Daysi Fernandez, Alfonso's best friend and co-worker. "What sick person goes and writes a status about it and says that's something that they have to do. She never gave up she didn't even give up on that marriage when she should have a long time ago."
Anne Swary wasn't completely surprised by the news that her next door neighbor had shot and killed his wife.
"As soon as I heard the headline, I had a feeling it was probably Derek," said Swary adding, "He would tell me that he thought he had been attacked by demons in his apartment."
Swary said she always believed Medina's behavior was "off," and wasn't completely shocked that he snapped, but she didn't necessarily believe he was capable of shooting and killing his wife.
Swary was glad neither she nor her family was home at the time of the murder.
"He could've knocked on my door and said I just killed my wife and it wouldn't have surprised me for him to do that." Sawry said before expressing her condolences for Alfonso, the victim, and her family "It's so, so sad and I'm really sorry for her family because she seemed like a lovely woman."
Another neighbor, Yoshi Dade, described Medina as sketchy.
"Walking around with a concealed gun so he tried to be the neighborhood watch guy," said Dade. "Always there day and night, it was kind of weird to me."
Paula Trivino, a neighbor at home at the time of the crime and heard screaming before Medina fired said, "It has to be mental illness. It can't be someone with sanity,"
