The man who famously killed his wife and shared a picture of her dead body on Facebook has received his sentence. He will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
According to the Huffington Post , 33-year-old Derek Medina was convicted of second-degree murder on Friday, despite his claim that the killing was done in self-defense. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, Derek Medina has maintained that he was the victim from the start, only shooting his wife in response to her physical abuse.
But the jury didn’t buy it. Maybe it was the fact that Derek Medina posted a graphic photo on social media showing his wife’s corpse, covered in blood and slumped on the kitchen floor with the caption “Rip Jennifer Alfonso.”
Derek Medina’s attorneys embraced the self-defense claim, arguing that he was forced to kill his wife after she charged at him with a knife. But prosecutors pointed out that Medina had emptied the entire clip into Jennifer Alfonso, which wouldn’t have been necessary. Not to mention the fact that he took a picture of her body and posted it on Facebook.
Medina was arrested quickly after and continued to keep Facebook up-to-date with the horrifying details of his crime.
“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 my wife was punching me and I am not going to stand anymore with the abuse so I did what i did I hope u understand me.”
Florida circuit court Judge Yvonne Colodny acknowledged Derek Medina’s bizarre social media posts as she gave him his sentence, saying “You foretold your future.”
The father of Medina’s wife joined the jury in rejecting the notion that the victim had attacked him first.
“The notion that my daughter was violent or abusive is an insult to me and my family,” said Jose Alfonso at the hearing. “That’s a fantasy that he created.”
In addition to a life sentence, Derek Medina was also given a concurrent sentence of 15 additional years for firing a “deadly missile” and five years for the neglect of his stepdaughter, the child of the wife he killed. After the murder, Derek Medina left the the little girl alone in the house with her mother’s body.
As if Medina’s actions weren’t strange and disturbing enough, he reportedly went on a long rant in the courtroom, blaming President Barack Obama and Universal Pictures for his “unfair trial,” according to Local 10 News.
“Focus, Barack Obama, president, on this corrupted world that I will be suing,” said Derek Medina. “Focus again, presidents and future presidents, of the world. OK. I will be suing this world. Not only that, on Freddy the movie by Universal Pictures, came out with a movie before my trial, which was unfair. OK, which is bias. And, um, pretty much the point I’m trying to make is I did not get a fair trial. I will be taking action. I will be suing, and I want Barack Obama, the president of the United States of America, to focus on corruption. Corruption is a big problem that we have in the United States of America and all over the world. Nothing further. Oh, God knows the truth, and nothing further.”
That tirade was the only time Derek Medina spoke at his own trial. He did not testify in his own defense.
Many of the victim’s family members showed up to the hearing, openly asking the judge to give Derek Medina a life sentence. The judge obliged.
“Jennifer is not going to come back to me in 25 years, she’s not going to come back to me in 40 years, she’s not going to come back to me at all,” said the victim’s mother, Carolyn Knox.
Do you think Derek Medina received a fitting sentence?
[Photo by Walter Michot/The Miami Herald via AP, Pool]