A 40-year-old New York man, Jonathan Melendez, was convicted of the 2023 murder of his 88-year-old neighbor, Rena Eves. Prosecutors argued in court that Melendez killed Eves after she refused to let him borrow her vehicle.

As reported by WWNY, Melendez was found guilty of second-degree murder, first-degree assault, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and tampering with physical evidence on Wednesday, October 1.

“This was a well-investigated case,” Assistant District Attorney Nolan Pitkin said following the conviction. “Through that, they provided us with the tools we needed to get the conviction.”

Melendez will be sentenced on December 8, 2025. He could spend the rest of his life in prison with the possibility of parole for the murder charge alone.

Senseless Murder

Eves’s li

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