The Florida man who allegedly killed his wife and documented it on Facebook

An extreme case of over-sharing

Derek Medina's townhouse
(Image credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

A Florida man confessed to killing his wife on Facebook on Thursday, and posted a photo of what he claimed was his dead wife.

Derek Medina, 31, wrote on his Facebook wall:

That was followed by a picture of a lifeless woman on her back with blood on her left arm and cheek titled "RIP Jennifer Alfonso," according to the Associated Press.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Underneath, Facebook friends left aghast comments. "That is my friend there," one wrote. Another wondered, "What happened?"

Officers came to Medina's South Miami home to find the dead body of his wife Jennifer, 26, as well as the couple's 10-year-old daughter, who was unharmed.

Medina told police that he and his wife got in a heated argument when she began to punch him. He claimed he went upstairs to get a gun and when he came back she was holding a knife. Then, he said, he disarmed her, put the knife away, and shot her.

Medina is being charged with first-degree murder.

The gruesome photo was up on his Facebook page for more than five hours before the company took his page down. A Facebook spokesperson issued the following statement to the AP:

The content was reported to us. We took action on the profile — removing the content and disabling the profile, and we reached out to law enforcement. We take action on all content that violates our terms, which are clearly laid out on our site. [AP]

The couple originally married in January 2010, got divorced two years later, then remarried three months after that.

Medina, oddly enough, was prolific writer of self-help e-books. His latest was titled, How I Saved Someone's Life and Marriage and Family Problems Thru Communication.

(Facebook screen grab courtesy of AP.)

To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

Keith Wagstaff is a staff writer at TheWeek.com covering politics and current events. He has previously written for such publications as TIME, Details, VICE, and the Village Voice.