Slain teen's friend hid truth from investigators, recordings reveal

Teen would later say she accidentally shot Melanie Medina​

ORLANDO, Fla. – A recorded interview shows the best friend of a slain teenager wasn't honest with investigators when they tried to find her killer.

Melanie Medina, 15, was found dumped on the side of an Orange County road on April 11.  Investigators said she was shot in the neck.

Read: Manslaughter charge filed after 15-year-old girl found dumped in Orlando 

According to recordings obtained by News 6, her 16-year-old best friend told Orange County sheriff's investigators she didn't know what happened to Medina.

"Did you have anything to do with it?" an investigator is heard asking.

"No," the girl replied.

The teen is heard telling investigators she spent the Monday night that Medina was killed at home watching "Fast and Furious" on her cell phone.

Read: Teen girl accidentally shot when man took her on drug deal, deputies say

She claimed she didn't find out that her friend was dead until 4 p.m. on Tuesday when her brother's friends told her.

"Do you know what happened to her?" the investigator is heard asking.

"No," she replied.  "I just heard rumors that's it.  That supposedly somebody hit her...and they stabbed her with a knife supposedly.  That's what I heard."

The girl told investigators she even talked to Medina's mother about her daughter's death.

"She asked me, she was like, 'tell me the truth, tell me the truth,'  I told her that she was here, and she left, and I don't know what happened next," she told investigators.

The friend would later change her story.

Investigators said they later found out that the friend was sitting in the front seat of a car driven by 23-year-old Ramsys Cruz Abreu, while Medina was in the back seat.

The friend said she had Cruz Abreu's gun resting in her lap when it slipped and started to fall.

Investigators said when she grabbed the gun, it went off, sending a bullet through the front seat and hitting Medina in the neck.

The friend told investigators she helped Cruz Abreu dump Medina's body on Ziegler Road.

She was not arrested or charged, but Orange County sheriff's investigators did arrest Cruz Abreu, and charged him with manslaughter and other charges.

Read: Friend shot 15-year-old girl found dead near road, deputies say

Detectives wouldn't find out these details for several more days after the girl insisted one more time that she didn't know anything about it.

"You swear everything you said is the truth, like who she went with?" the detective is heard asking.

"Yes," she replied.

"You don't know what happened to her?" he's heard asking.

"I have no idea," she said.

"If you did it, would you tell me?" the investigator asks her.

"Yes," she replied.  "I would want to know who did it because that was my best friend, and I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to her."

Cruz Abreu is free on bond, and his next court appearance is set for August.


About the Author:

Erik Sandoval joined the News 6 team as a reporter in May 2013 and became an Investigator in 2020. During his time at News 6, Erik has covered several major stories, including the 2016 Presidential campaign. He was also one of the first reporters live on the air at the Pulse Nightclub shooting.