A Florida woman is accused of using some of her Covid-19 relief loan to hire a hit man to kill another woman, police said.
The suspect, Jasmine Martinez, is now in jail along with two others identified by police as Javon Carter and Romiel Robinson. They are each being held on charges related to the May 3 murder of Le’Shonte Jones and the attempted murder of Jones’ 3-year-old daughter, who was injured in the shooting.
Martinez allegedly concocted a plot to kill Jones, and Robinson enlisted Carter to carry out the slaying, NBC Miami reported citing an arrest warrant. In the days before the shooting, Martinez allegedly withdrew about $10,000 from a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan she received. The warrant alleges that she used the money to pay Carter for the crime.
According to the Miami Herald, Martinez received the $15,000 loan — given to business owners struggling during the pandemic — for a single-employment beauty salon. It’s not clear if she actually owned the salon.
Investigators said Martinez knew the victim and had been arrested and charged in 2018 for getting into a physical altercation with Jones. Jones testified against Martinez in 2020, according to the warrant.
Following that court hearing, Jones reported that she was harassed, held at gunpoint, and robbed by two men, the warrant alleges. One of the men involved was later identified as Martinez’s ex-boyfriend, Kelly Nelson, the warrant says.
Nelson is currently in jail on charges related to the alleged robbery.
The warrant alleges that police investigating Jones’ murder, uncovered jail phone records between Nelson and Martinez. During a call on Feb. 11, 2021, Martinez allegedly told Nelson that she was “ready to go kill” Jones and that Jones has to “die,” according to the warrant.
The following day, Robinson, who was Martinez’s new boyfriend, contacted Carter.
Jones reported in March that she was being harassed, was offered money to not testify against Nelson, and was told that Martinez wanted Nelson home to help take care of their children, according to the warrant. Jones testified against Nelson in April and also against Martinez for witness tampering, the warrant says.
Investigators said shortly after her testimony, Robinson allegedly contacted Carter to get a price on the killing.
The investigation revealed that Carter allegedly went to Jones’ apartment complex on April 30 and May 1 to surveil her. He allegedly shot her multiple times on May 3 as she walked home with her daughter.
Miami-Dade police said in a Facebook post that surveillance video showed Jones, 24, and her daughter walking toward her apartment when she was gunned down. Jones, a Transportation Security Administration officer at Miami International Airport, was pronounced dead at the scene and her child was airlifted to the hospital, police said.
The surveillance video also showed Carter exiting a gray Nissan and firing at the mother and daughter with a handgun, according to the police post.
All three suspects were charged with first-degree murder of Jones and attempted murder of her child, online records show. Robinson and Martinez were also charged with conspiracy to commit murder. Their attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
Nelson awaits trial on the armed robbery charge, according to the Miami Herald.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said Jones’ killing was senseless.”
Dan Ronan, the TSA Security Director at Miami International Airport said: “Last May, the TSA workforce here in Miami tragically lost one of our own Officers who was killed in a cruel act of violence as she returned home from the airport. We still feel the immense loss of our young, vibrant officer, who was taken away from her family and away from us way too soon. We are grateful to the Miami-Dade Police Department for their tireless efforts to bring Le’Shonte’s killers to justice.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
