A New Jersey man has been accused of fatally stabbing his fiancée just one day after posting a video of himself proposing.
Jose Melo, 52, has been charged with first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon in the stabbing death of 31-year-old Naket Jadix Trinidad Maldonado, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office announced.
Police were called to Melo’s Elizabeth home shortly after 9 a.m. 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 of himself publicly proposing at Bamboleo Night Club. according to Fox5.
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 shocked by the proposal, her mouth open before walking over and kissing Melo, who then placed the ring on her finger.
The pair then hugged as the crowd cheered.
The song Casata Conmigo (Marry Me) by Silvestre Dangond and Nicky Jam could also be heard in the background.
Jose Melo, 52, has been charged with first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a weapon in the stabbing death of 31-year-old Naket Jadix Trinidad Maldonado. He is pictured in 2010, when he was required to register as a sex offender
The stabbing occurred just one day after Melo, a local DJ, posted a video of himself publicly proposing to Maldonado at the Bamboleo Night Club.
“I love you baby,” Melo wrote on the Facebook post.
He was previously arrested in 2010, when he threatened a woman with a box cutter and sexually assaulted her. NJ 101.5 reports.
Melo was subsequently forced to register as a sex offender, and the New Jersey State Sex Offender Registry lists him as a level two, or moderate risk, offender.
It’s unclear how he met Maldonado and 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 30th,” her aunt wrote in the GoFundMe.
“This terrible act by someone she trusted left her two children without either parent and with very few options for the future.”
The aunt also noted that Maldonado has no other family in New Jersey, and that her relatives in Florida are “doing everything they can.”
It is unclear how Melo met Maldonado and how long they had been dating before he proposed
Maldonado was the mother of two girls, who are now in the care of relatives
In an update on Thursday, the aunt thanked everyone for their support and warned: ‘Because this is a murder, it will take MUCH longer than a normal death’ to get information.
She noted that Maldonado’s daughters “are safe and in the care of the family, and permanent arrangements are being worked out.”
Funerals will take place in both New Jersey and Florida, and Maldonado will be buried in her native Puerto Rico.
On Monday, the fundraiser raised more than $27,000, which will now be divided between Maldonado’s funeral costs and the care of her children.