BRONX MAN IS FOUND GUILTY OF MURDER

Bronx District Attorney Robert T. Johnson announced today that a 30 year-old Bronx man has been convicted of murder in the death of a 19 year-old Bronx man on Christmas Eve 2000.

A jury found Johnny Hernandez guilty of Murder in the 2nd degree, "in a manner evincing a depraved indifference to human life", in the death of Juan Melendez.

Hernandez, a predicate felon, faces a maximum term of 25 years to life imprisonment when he appears before State Supreme Court Justice David Stadtmauer for sentencing on Wednesday, November 12, 2003, in Part T19.

Melendez was shot to death on December 24, 2000, as he left a party in the Morris Heights section of the Bronx. Armed with a gun, Hernandez and an accomplice approached Melendez and ordered him to hand over his gold necklace. Witnesses testified that they saw Hernandez hold a gun to Melendez’s head. As the men struggled, Melendez was shot in the head, neck and chest. His gold necklace was removed and both defendants fled.

A second defendant, Jason Lopez, 20, of 1491 Montgomery Avenue, Bronx, is currently awaiting trial. Lopez is charged with 1 count of Murder in the 2nd degree, 3 counts of Robbery in the 1st degree, 1 count Robbery in the 2nd degree, 1 count each of Criminal Possession of a weapon in the 2nd and 3rd degrees, 1 count of Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the 5th degree, and Conspiracy in the 4th degree. Lopez faces a maximum term of up to life imprisonment if convicted on the charge of murder.

Senior Trial Assistant District Attorney David E. Greenfield of the Trial Bureau is prosecuting this case.