Shawn Quincy Melton was certain that he was innocent of the brutal 1987 m*rder of a 6-year-old kid in Solano County, but he would not survive long enough to have his innocence established. Melton had gone to the police on February 21, 1987, with information regarding the m*rder and s*xual assault of Jeremy Stoner in Vallejo, but he soon became the suspect when authorities realized he had information only the m*rderer could have.
He was tried twice after his capture and spent 19 months in prison. Melton was never imprisoned for the crime since both juries were deadlocked, but a relative claims that he was still considered a suspect and that the police occasionally came to question him.
Public records show that Melton passed away in 2000, more than 20 years before DNA evidence exonerated his reputation and resulted in the capture of a different perpetrator.
His mother, Janis Melton, said, “He wished that people knew and believed him when he said that he was innocent.” The authorities weren’t persuaded by Melton’s claims of innocence, even though his family did. “They still thought it was him,” his mother said.
The Melton family was given justice last week when Fred Cain III, 69, who was connected to the m*rder by DNA, was detained by authorities in Oregon working with the Solano County district attorney. DNA evidence has also cleared Melton, according to the district attorney.
According to the Sacramento Bee, police were persuaded that Melton had ki!!ed Jeremy after Melton’s psychologist called the station with a terrifying tip about Melton just 20 minutes before he arrived to offer his evidence. The psychotherapist, Melton had fetishes regarding young boys.
According to the reports, what began as an amateur detective giving his local police department potential leads quickly developed into a marathon, 30-hour interrogation that included a polygraph test, a sketch of Melton, and the authorities’ discovery that Melton had multiple personalities, and that his alter ego “John Wolf” actually ki!!ed the boy.
John Wolf Conflicted Confession In A M*rder Mystery
Melton repeatedly rejected the accusations that he was John Wolf and passed the polygraph examination, but then gave in, altered his voice, and confessed to being there when “The Terminator” strangled the youngster during a her0in deal, according to the report.
The following day, police announced Melton’s arrest on suspicion of m*rder and told the media they were “100% certain” he was the assassin. Two juries weren’t as persuaded. Both were tied, with the first one ending in a 7–5 acquittal and the second ending in a 9–3 decision. A judge dismissed the charges, but the Solano County district attorney claimed Melton was still the only suspect nearly three years later.
Police “did go and see him even after he was released from jail,” his mother said. “It was hard to have to know that there were people that believed he was guilty when he wasn’t.”
For more up-to-date news, click the link below for the latest information.
- Chicago Police: After Lincoln Park Shooting, Dakotah Earley Announces the Lawsuit
- Shooting at University Park-One Man Died in the Incident
Janis Melton expressed her happiness that police had finally located and detained a new suspect. Cain, a resident of Oregon, was detained on September 18 after DNA evidence connected him to Jeremy’s m*rder. On Friday, the arrest was made public.
Authorities omitted details regarding the specific evidence that exonerated Melton of wrongdoing and supported Cain. The district attorney’s office for Solano County simply stated that “Mr. Melton has since been cleared thanks to advances in DNA technology.”
Cain will be moved to California, where a trial will take place. “I am so thankful to have such dedicated cold case investigators that no matter how much time goes by they remain steadfast in their commitment to solving these horrific cases,” said Solano County Dist. Atty. Krishna Abrams.
Even if the breakthrough in the case came far too late to clear her son’s name while he was still alive, Janice Melton said, he would be relieved to learn that an arrest had finally been made.
“I am glad with the DNA technology that they were able to find this suspect. It sounds like they have a pretty good case against him and are pretty sure he is the one who murdered Jeremy,” she said.
Melton claimed that the Stoner family’s pursuit of justice was his only remaining hope when the accusations against him were dismissed in 1988.
“There’s nothing that anyone can do to bring back the loss of their son,” he told reporters. “I wish that Vallejo, the community, the press, the police and the D.A. would do one thing for the Stoner family — and that is to go out, work together, and get the person that did this crime.”
If you want to check out more news, you can visit our site, theeastcountygazette.com, to read all the latest information. You can also share your views in the comment box, and don’t forget to bookmark our site.