On March 22, 2024, Claudette Melvin, 87, and her husband Major Melvin, 89, were found shot to death in their Fort Lauderdale home in the 600 block of Southwest 30th Terrace. A family member with a mental disability who had been staying at the house discovered the bodies; he found Claudette in the dining room and immediately called his sister, saying there was an emergency. He told investigators he did not hear any gunshots or loud noises before finding the bodies.

The Melvins’ 2014 red Ford Fusion and the car keys were missing from the home after the deaths; the vehicle was later located in a tow yard after someone flagged down a Fort Lauderdale officer about the car in the area of 600 W. Oakland Park Boulevard in Wilton Manors. Maurice Anthony Newsom, 30, who was romantically involved with the victims’ granddaughter Jalisa Hill, was arrested in May on vehicle-related charges and later held in connection with the theft. Investigators recovered items from the scene including paperwork, a cable router, and 9mm shell casings.

The family has expressed deep grief and outrage; the victims’ son Dennis J. Parker condemned the suspects and suggested the possibility of other family members being involved, a claim not confirmed by authorities. Did anyone living in Fort Lauderdale in March 2024 notice the Melvins’ red Ford Fusion or anything unusual in the neighborhood that day?