Mother of Orange County teen dumped on road after accidental shooting speaks out

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — More details were released Monday in the shooting of 15-year-old Melanie Medina and the arrest of the man allegedly involved in her death.

Ramsys Cruz-Abreu, 22, faced a judge Saturday on additional charges related to the death of Melanie Medina.

He now faces charges of manslaughter, unlawful disposal of human remains, tampering with evidence and possession of cannabis, deputies said.

The 15-year-old was found April 11, dumped on the side of Ziegler Road in Orange County.

Originally, Cruz-Abreu told investigators that he had taken Medina and an unnamed 16-year-old girl to a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop.

According to an arrest affidavit released Monday, the girls were in the car while Cruz-Abreu conducted a drug deal.

The 16-year-old girl told investigators that after making the deal, Cruz-Abreu told her to get a handgun out of a case in the back seat.

"(He) told the juvenile he was concerned about possibly being robbed and to shoot if anyone tried to do so," the affidavit said.

The girl put the gun on her leg and while she was putting the box down, the gun slipped between her legs, investigators said.

She grabbed it, putting her finger on the trigger, and when she lifted it back up, accidentally fired, deputies said.

Medina, who was in the front passenger seat, was hit by the bullet and later died, the affidavit said.

Instead of taking Medina to the hospital, Cruz-Abreu told investigators he dumped her body and tried to clean his car.

Medina was living with Cruz-Abreu at the time, having been thrown out of the house by her mother, the 16-year-old told investigators, according to the affidavit.

Medina’s mother, however, said she was concerned about her daughter’s whereabouts the night the teenager died.

Maria Medina said, in Spanish, that deputies came to her home.

“I would answer and asked them to tell me what was happening, and they wouldn’t say anything,” she said. “Until the end, they told me what happened.”

The 16-year-old who was involved won’t be charged--a decision Maria Medina disagrees with.

“I don’t understand what kind of accident that is, that you have an accident and leave a person dumped,” she said.

Maria Medina said she kept calling friends the night her daughter was shot, searching for answers. She said reached the 16-year-old the next day.

“I called her and I said, ‘Do you know where Melanie is? What happened with her?’ and she said, ‘I haven’t seen her in four days,’” she said.

But then, she said, the friend admitted to having seen Melanie hours before she was killed.

“They had already dumped her,” Maria Medina said.

She said she wanted to get a message out to the man who was arrested in connection to her daughter’s death.

“If he’s listening, I haven’t asked God for anything more than justice,” she said.

Cruz-Abreu was originally charged with being an accessory after the fact in connection with Medina’s death. However, that charge was dropped Thursday.

Deputies said Thursday that Medina's death was an accident.

It was a preventable accident, though, which made Cruz-Abreu culpable, investigators said.

"Ramsys Cruz-Abreu showed reckless disregard for human life and the safety of Melanie Medina by exposing her to the dangerous interactions associated with being involved in a drug deal," the affidavit said."Further, by providing a loaded firearm to the juvenile ... and directing her to shoot anyone who approaches the vehicle in an attempt to rob him, Ramsys Cruz-Abreu engaged in a course of conduct that showed a reckless disregard for human life, or a grossly careless disregard for the safety and welfare of the public."

Cox Media Group