MIAMI – A South Florida man who fatally shot his wife and posted a photo of her body on Facebook was sentenced to life in prison Friday.
Derek Medina, 33, was convicted of second-degree murder in November. Medina shot Jennifer Alfonso, 27, in the kitchen of their South Miami townhouse in August 2013.
Defense attorneys for Medina argued that he killed his wife in self-defense after she charged at him with a knife, but prosecutors said during the trial that Medina emptied the clip when he shot Alfonso and even had time to stop and take a picture of her body before he turned himself in to police.
"The notion that my daughter was violent or abusive is an insult to me and my family," Jose Alfonso said during Friday's sentencing hearing. "That's a fantasy that he created."
Medina spoke briefly before learning his fate. It was the first time Medina, who did not testify during his trial, has spoken in open court.
"Focus, Barack Obama, president, on this corrupted world that I will be suing," Medina said. "Focus again, presidents and future presidents, of the world. OK. I will be suing this world. Not only that, on Freddy the movie by Universal Pictures, came out with a movie before my trial, which was unfair. OK, which is bias. And, um, pretty much the point I'm trying to make is I did not get a fair trial. I will be taking action. I will be suing, and I want Barack Obama, the president of the United States of America, to focus on corruption. Corruption is a big problem that we have in the United States of America and all over the world. Nothing further. Oh, God knows the truth, and nothing further."
Miami-Dade County Judge Yvonne Colodny wasted little time in sentencing Medina after listening to Medina and Alfonso's family members.
"You foretold your future," Colodny told Medina as she announced his sentence. "You wrote on Facebook that 'I am going to prison,' and that is where you will be going."
Medina's attorney, Saam Zangeneh, told reporters after the hearing that his client has been in isolation since his August 2013 arrest.
"He wanted to make a statement. He made one," Zangeneh said. "He's got every right to. Listen, I'm not his life coach. I'm his lawyer."