Virginia Ginger Louise Melton, 58, was found dead at a residence in the 3100 block of Weaver Road in Herrin, Illinois, on July 13, 2024. Family notices confirmed her birth in Peoria on June 28, 1966, and that she died that Saturday. Illinois State Police responded and described multiple gunshot wounds at the scene; the death was investigated as a homicide.

Within a day state investigators announced the arrest of 38-year-old Tyler Mezo of Herrin on a charge of first-degree murder; he was booked into the Williamson County Jail pending his first court appearance as detectives and crime-scene teams processed evidence. On August 5, 2024, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Mezo in Melton’s killing, moving the case into the courts.