A New Jersey man has been accused of fatally stabbing his fiancé just one day after posting a video of him proposing.
Jose Melo, 52, has been hit with first degree murder and unlawful possession of weapon charges in the stabbing death of 31-year-old Naket Jadix Trinidad Maldonado, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office announced.
It said police were called to the his home in Elizabeth shortly after 9am last Monday and found Maldonado dead at the scene.
A motive for the stabbing remains unclear, but it came just one day after Melo, a local DJ, posted a video showing him publicly proposing at Bamboleo Night Club, according to Fox 5.
He could be seen getting down on one knee and telling Maldonado, ‘Te amo,’ which is Spanish for ‘I love you,’ as he opened a ring box.
Maldonado appeared to be shocked by the proposal, with her mouth agape before she walked over and kissed Melo, who proceeded to put the ring on her finger.
The couple then embraced, while the crowd cheered.
The song Casata Conmigo (Marry Me) by Silvestre Dangond and Nicky Jam could also be heard playing in the background.
‘I love you, baby,’ Melo wrote on the Facebook post.
He had previously been arrested in 2010, when he threatened a woman with a box cutter and sexually assaulted her, NJ 101.5 reports.
Melo was then forced to register as a sex offender, and the New Jersey state sex offender registry lists him as a tier two offender, or a moderate risk.
It is unclear how he met Maldonado and for how long they had been dating before he proposed, but an online fundraiser describes the victim as the mother of two daughters.
‘Naky was senselessly taken from us on December 30,’ her aunt wrote in the GoFundMe.
‘This horrible act by someone she trusted left her two children without either parent and with very little options for the future.’
The aunt also noted that Maldonado has no other family in New Jersey, and her relatives in Florida are ‘doing all they can.’
In an update on Thursday, the aunt thanked everyone for their support as she warned, ‘Due to this being a homicide, things take MUCH longer than a regular death’ to get information.
She noted that Maldonado’s daughters are ‘safe and being taken care of by family, and permanent arrangements are being worked out.’
Funerals will be held in both New Jersey and Florida, and Maldonado will be buried in her native Puerto Rico.
As of Monday, the fundraiser netted more than $27,000, which will now be split between Maldonado’s funeral costs and the care for her children.