FL - Major and Claudette Melvin, both in their 80s, murdered, Fort Lauderdale, March 22, 2024

[Warwick1991]

On March 22nd, Major and Claudette Melvin, both in their 80s, were shot and killed in their Fort Lauderdale apartment. Their car, a 2014 Ford Focus, was stolen. Money and valuables were apparently left behind.

Sisters mystified by killing of octogenarian parents inside Fort Lauderdale home

After the killing of their octogenarian parents last month in their South Florida home, Kim Melvin Hill and Tonya Mitchell went before a bank of TV cameras seeking answers on Wednesday.

www.wptv.com

 

[NervousNellie]

Wow, how strange that the only thing missing was their vehicle. Yet someone came into the home and shot both of them. RIP Mr. and Mrs. Melvin.

 

[Howl]

I'm gutted. 89 and 85, married 60 years with 11 children. The special needs son was in the house during the murders but couldn't provide any details.

 

[Warwick1991]

Here's another news article. 911 calls released after couple in their 80s found shot dead in Fort Lauderdale home - WSVN 7News | Miami News, Weather, Sports | Fort Lauderdale

The special needs son apparently called his sister. A senseless and bizarre crime...

 

[lightofmine99]

My immediate thought is that someone wants an inheritance and thinks stealing the car is enough to make it look like a "robbery gone wrong" or something. Think they'll ditch the car somewhere, switch license plates, whatever. Or at least it has to be someone known to the family. MOO. No, I am not trying to implicate the sisters mentioned in the article.

I say this because a complete stranger that did not want to leave witnesses probably would not stop to check and see if the third person in the house was special needs. While we don't know what type of "special needs" he has, he apparently does not have the capacity to relay details (based on the article). They left him alive because they knew he couldn't or wouldn't say anything. Unless the uncle was hidden somewhere. MOO.

Of course this could be a genuine robbery gone wrong or the work of some...not mentally stable individual.

I'm gutted. 89 and 85, married 60 years with 11 children. The special needs son was in the house during the murders but couldn't provide any details.

He isn't a son, he is Claudette's brother (so the kids' uncle).

 

[Wallendo]

It sounds like one or two people were trying to make a getaway (from LE? rival gang?), and needed a getaway car and no witnesses.

A red Ford fusion is not a particularly discrete car for a getaway and has probably been ditched in the everglades or a river.

 

[Warwick1991]

It sounds like one or two people were trying to make a getaway (from LE? rival gang?), and needed a getaway car and no witnesses.

A red Ford fusion is not a particularly discrete car for a getaway and has probably been ditched in the everglades or a river.

It's possible, but a 10 year old Fusion is IMO, a somewhat anonymous car, unless it's an extremely bright red. In this climate, though, reds often fade after a decade, unless the car is kept in a garage.

 

[Warwick1991]

I can't think of any motive that makes sense. If there are 11 children, nobody is going to get much of an inheritance. The neighborhood mentioned, Melrose Park, has a lot of modest single family homes. Mistaken identity? Random violence?

I have been in this area, but I live in the next county, going north.

 

[Cedars]

It sounds like one or two people were trying to make a getaway (from LE? rival gang?), and needed a getaway car and no witnesses.

A red Ford fusion is not a particularly discrete car for a getaway and has probably been ditched in the everglades or a river.

IDK, desperados in that situation would have no idea what they were walking into - could have been a football team gathered in that LR. IMO, that's why they normally carjack from a solo driver.

Also, they'd have to find the car keys, if they couldn't hot wire it.

Normally, any competent car thief would have just run away when they woke Major up. Police wouldn't bother to investigate, if nothing was stolen.


One reason to use the victim's car, is that the shooter's own car can't then be identified. Maybe shooter snuck up in the night, by foot.

Motive could be a grudge of some sort, unfortunately.

JMO

 

[Warwick1991]

Some clarification from my original post: From reading the linked 7 news article carefully, the Melvins did not live in an apartment, as I stated earlier, but owned their home for many years and brought up their family there. Many of the homes in Melrose Park are ranch houses built in the 1950s. It is a relatively quiet neighborhood.

I'm still trying to think of a motive, but at this point, there's not much out there to consider.

 

[Warwick1991]

A recent development - there's been an arrest for theft of the Melvin's car. The suspect had dated the granddaughter of the victims.

Police arrest man accused of stealing murdered elderly couple's car

Police have arrested a man who they say stole the car of an elderly couple who was found murdered in their Fort Lauderdale home earlier this year.

www.nbcmiami.com

 

[vls12345]

Man arrested after authorities find missing car of murdered Florida couple

Investigators say Maurice Anthony Newson, 30, sold the car after the couple were killed in March.

www.tampabay.com

(Article from July 5, 2024. The article is much more extensive than the excerpts I am posting here.)

"While not charged in relation to the murders, Maurice Anthony Newson, 30, of Davie was arrested on a warrant in May in Fort Lauderdale for grand theft auto and dealing in stolen property, Broward County court records show.

Newson is accused of selling the car to a tow truck company in Wilton Manors for $200 the same evening that the couple was found dead, according to the warrant.

Newson “had been coming around the home following the homicide ‘acting strange’ and asking a lot of questions about what detectives were saying about the investigation,” family members told detectives, the warrant said."

and

"Court records show Newson was released from jail after posting bail and pleaded not guilty in late June."

 

[Clearsky]

Fla. Couple with 28 Grandchildren Were Killed Months Ago. Police Allege Granddaughter Was Behind It

Jalisa Hill and Maurice Newson are both facing murder charges in the deaths of Major and Claudette Melvin.

people.com

Major, 89, and Claudette Melvin, 85, were found dead in their home on March 22, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department said in a release.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

According to WPLG, Newson was linked to the car, although police have not explained how. It was found at a tow yard two weeks after the murders.

Police said Hill voluntarily submitted to a polygraph examination and was “untruthful on the question of being involved in the death of her grandparents.”

Court documents say Hill told police after the murders that she was in line to inherit her grandparents’ house but said in a later interview that she was not.

Florida Woman Charged in March Death of Her Grandparents

A Florida woman and her boyfriend have been charged in connection with the murder of her grandparents in March. Maurice Anthony Newson, 30, was charged in August with the murder of Major and Claudette Melvin, 89 and 85, who were shot to death on March 22, WPLG reported. Jelissa Hill was arrested...

www.crimeonline.com

 

[NervousNellie]

Thanks for finding the update, @imstilla.grandma. I don't think anyone is surprised by the outcome. That doesn't make it less sad.