US ‘Facebook killer’ sentenced to life in prison for wife’s murder
Derek Medina appears in court during his sentencing in Miami on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016. Medina, 33, was given life in prison for fatally shooting his wife, Jennifer Alfonso, eight times during an argument in August 2013, a slaying that gained international notoriety after he posted a photo of her bloody body on Facebook. The Miami Herald via AP, Pool
MIAMI, United States—A Miami court on Friday imprisoned for life a US man who killed his wife and then splashed a photo of her bloodied body on Facebook, where he confessed to the fatal shooting.
Derek Medina, 33, was found guilty last year of second-degree murder after he fired eight shots at Jennifer Alfonso in August 2013 in their home kitchen.
READ: Florida man convicted of killing wife; posted Facebook photo of body
Medina said he acted in self-defense after she threatened him with a knife and following years of abuse. But after six hours’ deliberation jurors in November rejected that claim.
The case attracted widespread attention because Medina photographed his 27-year-old wife’s body, posted the picture on Facebook, and admitted on the social network that he had killed before surrendering to police.
READ: Jury deliberates man’s fate in Facebook photo killing case
“I’m going to prison or death sentence for killing my wife, love you guys, miss you guys, take care Facebook people,” he posted.
“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.”
Sentencing him to life, Judge Yvonne Colodny told Medina that “you foretold your future.
“You wrote on Facebook that ‘I am going to prison,’ and that is where you will be going.”
