Woman paid ex-husband $1,000 to help him murder her grandparents, police say

Background: Major and Claudette Melvin (GoFundMe). Top to bottom insets: Jalisa Hill, Maurice Newson (Broward County Sheriff)

Background: Major and Claudette Melvin (GoFundMe). Inserts from top to bottom: Jalisa Hill, Maurice Newson (Broward County Sheriff’s Office).

A Florida woman is accused of paying her ex-boyfriend $1,000 to help him murder his 80-year-old grandparents.

Jalisa Hill, 34, pleaded not guilty Friday in Broward County, local ABC station WPLG reported. Court records show she is charged with murder. Her ex-boyfriend, Maurice Newson, is also charged with murder, as well as robbery, obstruction, auto theft and dealing in stolen property.

According to a probable cause statement obtained by WPLG, Major and Claudette Melvin, a couple in their 80s, were shot and killed in their home on March 22. At the time, investigators noted that something was missing: the couple’s car.

“The (victims’) 2014 red Ford Fusion with a (redacted) Florida license plate was missing from the scene, although it was normally parked in the garage,” the affidavit states. Investigators also noted that “the single set of keys that was supposed to be hanging on the key hook near the kitchen was also missing.”

Security video from a nearby residence later revealed that the car had been seen leaving the house more than 12 hours before the murders, around 4 a.m. on March 22.

More from Law&Crime: A Navy veteran who murdered his grandfather and great-grandmother before using his military enlistment to try to hide learns his fate

Hill, the Melvins’ granddaughter, lived in the home with an unidentified relative described in the affidavit as “developmentally delayed.” That relative found the Melvins shot to death around 8:30 p.m. on March 22. The affidavit describes Claudette Melvin’s body as being found near the dining room table, while Major Melvin was found between a couch and a coffee table. Hill told police at the time that she had left the home on March 21 to live with her boyfriend and learned of her grandparents’ deaths after receiving a call from a family member on March 22 and returning home.

In an April 9 interview, Hill told police she was “the one who would get the house when her grandparents died,” according to the affidavit. Investigators found notes that she had planned to repair and renovate the house, even though she didn’t own it at the time.

Two days later, Hill filed a claim for compensation for the theft of his grandparents’ car. According to the affidavit, Hill told insurance agents that the car had been stolen on April 5, when it had actually been stolen on March 22, the same day his grandparents were murdered. Investigators noted that Hill did not disclose his grandparents’ deaths to insurance agents, but instead told them that his grandmother “was too old” to be the primary contact for the claim.

“At no point during the claims process did Jalisa inform All State that her grandparents had passed away,” the affidavit states. “Instead, Jalisa asked whether the payment check would be made out to her grandmother and what would happen if her grandmother was unable to cash the check.”

The car itself, meanwhile, had apparently been sold — by Newson, Hill’s ex-boyfriend. The affidavit states that he and Hill had previously been in a long-term relationship, and that since he lost his job as a Spirit Airlines ground crew chief over alleged workplace violence in December 2023, he had been struggling financially. According to the affidavit, Newson arranged for the Ford Fusion to be sold for $200 in cash to the owner of a towing company around 9 p.m. on March 22.

In a subsequent interview with police, Hill’s story began to change, according to the affidavit. She said she had never actually been entitled to receive the house from her grandparents, despite previously stating that she and her mother would be the “sole heirs” to the home.

She also told police she had not been in regular contact with Newson and had only seen him after her grandparents were killed as he was walking past the house on his way to the bus stop. However, according to the affidavit, Hill indirectly paid Newson $1,000 in cash through a third party and mobile cash payment apps on April 27.

A May 16 polygraph “revealed deception, and (the investigator) found that she had lied about her involvement in her grandparents’ deaths,” the affidavit said.

Hill was arrested Wednesday. Records show she and Newson remain in custody.

Dennis Parker, one of the Melvins’ sons, told local NBC affiliate WTVJ that he struggles to understand Hill’s alleged involvement in his parents’ deaths.

“At the end of the day, Jalisa is my niece and I can’t really see her being involved in something like this, but the law speaks for itself,” Parker told the station.

However, he told WPLG that whoever is responsible for his parents’ deaths – even if it’s his niece – should be brought to justice.

“I’m going to stand in the gap for my parents, okay?” he told the station. “If you had anything to do with this, like I said, I want you to rot in hell.”

More on Law&Crime: Man Killed Grandparents, Went to Neighbor’s, Confessed, Waited for Cops: Sheriff

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