Mother recalls night her boyfriend shot her, killed her son; shooter gets 54 years
The witness table was moved to the floor by two bailiffs so Tasha Fuentes could testify when her ex-boyfriend was on trial last week for shooting her and her son. That’s because she now has to use a wheelchair to get around.
Fuentes spent three months and three weeks in the hospital after she was shot in the neck by Jose Melendez. She is now paralyzed from her chest down and has limited mobility of her right arm. She could not raise her right hand to take the oath, so Judge Dal Williamson allowed her to just respond, promising to tell the truth.
She clutched a handkerchief in her left hand, which she can still move, as she began to testify. The courtroom was still, heady with the weight of her testimony in front of the man who shot her and her son Dalton White, killing him Nov. 6, 2019. He was 22 and trying to protect his mother from Melendez.
The bullet is still lodged in Fuentes’ back, she told the court.
“It’s too dangerous to remove the bullet,” Fuentes testified.
Fuentes testified she remembered telling her son that she wanted “Pito” — the name Melendez was called by the family — to leave her home.
“I was blacking out on the stand,” Fuentes said after the trial.
White, his girlfriend Hannah Maxcey and his best friend Cody Ingersoll, 22, came over to the residence that night after Fuentes called White and told him Melendez had come back to the home. Ingersoll often stayed the night with White and Maxcey as they were always together and close friends.
“He shot Dalton,” she said in a soft voice. “Then he shot me. Pito left.”
Her youngest son Isaac came outside screaming, Fuentes said, and laid on top of her.
“I told my son, ‘I’m OK, mommy’s OK, go to Dalton,” Fuentes said.
Fuentes said she told Issac to go get some towels from inside. Ingersoll held pressure to Fuentes’ neck as she lay there bleeding and waiting for an ambulance to arrive for her and her son.
“I said, ‘Cody, I’m dying. I know I am. Tell my family I love them.’”
Then everything went black. Fuentes could not see or hear anything anymore, she said.
Close Asst. District Attorney Kristin Martin points to defendent Jose Melendez during the prosecution's opening statements of Melendez' trial Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Nathan Elmore, Jackson attorney representing Jose Melendez, begins his opening arguement during Melendez' trial Thuraday, June 3, 2021.
Jose Melendez listens to his interpreter during his trial Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Jason White, Dalton White's father, takes the stand during Jose Melendez' trial for the first degree murder of Dalton Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Former Jones County Sheriff's deupty Sgt. JOe Blakeney takes the stand during Jose Melenedez' trial Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Lester Delgado, right, and Jones County Assistant District Attorney Kristin Martin hold a photo of 27 Toombs Road Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Hannah Maxcey, right, points to the positions of everyone at 27 Toombs Rd. during the altercation while Jones County Assistant District Attorney Kristin Martin holds a picture of the house Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Tasha Fuentes gives testimony during the trial of Jose Melendez Friday, June 4, 2021.
Jose Melendez, center, escorted by a corrections officer and a JCSD deputy, leaves court after being sentenced to 54 years for second-degree murder of Dalton White, 22, and aggrevated assault of Tasha Fuentes.
Tasha Fuentes gives a victim impact statement in court after the sentencing of Jose Melendez Monday, June 7, 2021.
Jason White, Dalton White's father, gives a victim impact statement in court after Jose Melendez is sentenced to 54 years in prison Monday, June 7, 2021.
PHOTOS: See Melendez' trial
Jose Melendez stood trial for the charge of first-degree murder of Dalton White and aggravated assault of Tasha Fuentes, White's mother, from a November 2019 incident. At the courthouse, the two-day trial called 11 witnesses to give testimony, including Fuentes, Cody Ingersoll and Hannah Maxcey, who were at the 27 Toombs Rd. address during the incident.
Melendez was represented by Nathan Elmore, a Jackson attorney, and the state was represented by Jones County Assistant District Attorney Kristin Martin and District Attorney Tony Buckley.
This story will be updated. Stay tuned at Leader-call.com for story developments.
Asst. District Attorney Kristin Martin points to defendent Jose Melendez during the prosecution's opening statements of Melendez' trial Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Nathan Elmore, Jackson attorney representing Jose Melendez, begins his opening arguement during Melendez' trial Thuraday, June 3, 2021.
Jose Melendez listens to his interpreter during his trial Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Jason White, Dalton White's father, takes the stand during Jose Melendez' trial for the first degree murder of Dalton Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Former Jones County Sheriff's deupty Sgt. JOe Blakeney takes the stand during Jose Melenedez' trial Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Lester Delgado, right, and Jones County Assistant District Attorney Kristin Martin hold a photo of 27 Toombs Road Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Hannah Maxcey, right, points to the positions of everyone at 27 Toombs Rd. during the altercation while Jones County Assistant District Attorney Kristin Martin holds a picture of the house Thursday, June 3, 2021.
Tasha Fuentes gives testimony during the trial of Jose Melendez Friday, June 4, 2021.
Jose Melendez, center, escorted by a corrections officer and a JCSD deputy, leaves court after being sentenced to 54 years for second-degree murder of Dalton White, 22, and aggrevated assault of Tasha Fuentes.
Tasha Fuentes gives a victim impact statement in court after the sentencing of Jose Melendez Monday, June 7, 2021.
Jason White, Dalton White's father, gives a victim impact statement in court after Jose Melendez is sentenced to 54 years in prison Monday, June 7, 2021.
'Horrible, unimaginable consequences'
Melendez was sentenced to 54 years in prison by Williamson in Jones County Circuit Court on Monday. He was found guilty of second-degree murder and aggravated assault. Melendez was ordered to serve 34 years for second-degree murder and 20 years for aggravated assault, and “because of the horrible, unimaginable consequences that the victims will suffer, those sentences will run consecutively,” Williamson said.
“I’ve always heard that losing a child is the worst emotion that a human being can experience,” Williamson said during the sentencing. “It’s contrary to the natural order of life. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child and the pain of knowing that — barring a miracle from God — a person must live the rest of her life in the confinement of a chair, depending on the love and mercy of others to care for her every minute of every day.”
A jury composed of six white women, two black men, three black women and one white man deliberated for nearly two hours before delivering their verdict. During a three-day trial that started Thursday at South Central Place, the jury heard testimony from 11 state witnesses, including Fuentes, Ingersoll and Maxcey.
White and Fuentes were shot by Melendez at 27 Toombs Rd., in the Hoy Community, where Fuentes, Melendez and two of her children resided. Melendez left the scene, abandoned his car at a business on 16th Avenue, ditched the gun on the side of Houston Road and fled to Morgan City, La. Morgan City police later apprehended Melendez “hiding in a closet” at a relative’s home, Investigator J.D. Carter of the Jones County Sheriff’s Department testified.
“This was not a case of self-defense,” Assistant District Attorney Kristen Martin said during closing arguments. “You all know the saying, ‘You can’t bring a gun to a fistfight.’ Well, you certainly can’t bring a gun to a verbal argument.”
Melendez was represented by Nathan Elmore, a Jackson attorney, and Martin and DA Tony Buckley prosecuted the case as Williamson presided.
Deliberate design or crime of passion?
Fuentes and Melendez got in an argument the night of the shooting because Fuentes had not cooked any rice with dinner, Martin said. Melendez left the house angry. Fuentes’ ex-husband Lesther Delgado — with whom she has three children, Isaac, Marie and Lesther Jr. — arrived at the trailer because he was concerned about why his son Isaac was missing school, Martin explained. Isaac, Marie, Melendez and Fuentes lived at 27 Toombs Rd., which was owned by Delgado.
Delgado testified that he saw Melendez “spinning tires” out of the residence, and he went to speak with Fuentes to see what was going on. Melendez returned, and the two men began to argue about Isaac, Delgado said. Delgado testified that he slapped Melendez, and Melendez left the residence. After Melendez left his house, he picked up his friend and went to the Laurel Police Department to press charges against Delgado, as shown in a 30-minute dash-cam video of former JCSD Deputy John Blakeney.
Since it was a county affair, the LPD told Melendez to contact the JCSD, and Melendez wanted the deputy to meet him at LPD. After a report was taken of the incident, with the friend translating, Melendez asked if he could defend himself, the video shows. Blakeney said to Melendez that if he was in fear for his life that he could “do what he’s got to do” and defend himself.
“I told him to call 911 and tell them the address and ‘help’ if anything else happens,” Blakeney said.
Blakeney was the first on scene later around 1:30 a.m. when the 911 call came in that shots had been fired at the residence, Blakeney testified. He found Fuentes and White on the ground wounded, Blakeney said, with White convulsing.
“(Dalton) was pretty much gone,” Blakeney said of White’s condition when he arrived.
In a one-and-a-half-hour interview with Carter, Melendez said his vision was blurry when the shooting happened and he was sitting in his car. In the video interview, Melendez said he thought he had shot White and Ingersoll, and Carter told Melendez he had paralyzed Fuentes. The video showed him becoming upset when he learned he had shot Fuentes.
Melendez said to Carter both White and Delgado threatened to kill him during the two separate incidents that night. He feared for his life and got the gun out of one of his vehicles when he returned to the residence.
The jury was asked to consider whether it was of “deliberate design” to qualify for first-degree murder, a crime with malice and a depraved heart for second-degree murder or a crime of passion in the heat of a moment for manslaughter or if Melendez was protecting himself “in fear of his life” and was not guilty due to self-defense.
The jury needed to consider two things about the case, Martin said during closing arguments.
“Dalton White would be alive today if it weren’t for the actions of Jose Melendez,” she said. “Tasha Fuentes, who is sitting over there in a wheelchair, would not be a paraplegic.”
In the video interview, Melendez said his life was threatened, Elmore said during his closing argument.
“If you find that, you’ll see there’s a strong case for justifiable homicide,” Elmore said. “Mr. Melendez had an eye history — previous eye surgery, lazy eye, glare problems, strabismus. There were two men pacing around, it’s heated and he’s already agitated.”
Melendez was not the initial aggressor, but the only aggressor in this case, Martin said.
“It’s not self-defense,” Martin said in her closing argument. “The only person who thought about killing was the man who did it, Mr. Melendez. For someone with eye problems, I’d say he’s a pretty good shot. He hit two people.”
Dalton’s father Jason White and Fuentes said they forgave Melendez for killing their son. Melendez was baptized in prison and Jason White acknowledged that he had accepted Christ as his savior.
“In Colossians Chapter 3, it says, ‘In order to be forgiven, you have to forgive first,” Jason White said, “so I want it to be known to the court that I forgive (Melendez) for taking my son.”
Fuentes said it’s taken a long time for her to realize how she can forgive Melendez, but she does forgive him.
“I forgive you for what you did to Dalton and forgive you for what you did to me, but I will never forget it,” Fuentes said. “I pray that you never have to live the way we have to live without our son, with the two that you have in Puerto Rico.”
As Melendez was taken out of court, he looked to Fuentes and said, “Te quiero” — Spanish for, “I love you.”
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rbHAnZyrZZOWua16wqikaKaVrMBwstGenJimlazAcL7EpaCvoZ6ceqJ5zaKeoaydlr%2Bme8Crq6KbnJqsc33Bb5qdnGZisHqCl2Zoap2SYoV3gsBmbp9uaW19o33DnWdtZpipuq0%3D