MIAMI – Photos show bruises on the arm of a South Miami man accused of fatally shooting his wife, then posting a picture of her body on Facebook.
The photos show a shirtless Derek Medina with some bruises on his upper-left arm, but no other noticeable injuries. The photos, obtained by WPLG-TV from the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office, were taken eight days after the shooting.
Medina, 31, claims he shot his wife, 26-year-old Jennifer Alfonso, in self-defense while she viciously attacked him at their South Miami home on Aug. 8. He told police in the statement that he posted a photo of his dead wife on Facebook to notify family members about what had happened. He claimed that he killed her in self-defense after she threatened him with a knife, following many previous abusive episodes.
Last week, Circuit Judge Yvonne Colodny denied Medina's request for bail. He has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm.
Medina's attorney, Saam Zanganeh, said his client may have feared bodily harm even without having life threatening injuries. He argued last week that both Florida's "stand your ground" self-defense law and the Castle Doctrine, which permits force to be met with force inside a person's home, could apply in his client's case.
"She's the aggressor," Zanganeh said during closing arguments. ''Her level of anger and distress and stewing in her own venom, it didn't get better, it got worse."
Zanganeh said the standard for fear of bodily harm differs if the person is a battered spouse.
Prosecutors also released a 911 call made on the day of the shooting from the Gables Club Condominiums, where Medina worked.
"He (Medina) just shot his girlfriend 16 times, and he's on his way to the police department," said the caller. "I need just a follow up that he is in custody. If this guy has lost his marbles, I don't want him coming here and going postal, you know what I mean?"
Medina later turned himself into a South Miami police station.
The caller also repeated Medina's claims that he was abused.
"He just said that it was too many years of abuse, and she started to hit him and I guess he snapped and shot her," the caller said.