More Grief for Melendi Family
Butch Hinton could walk out of prison as early as 2011
By HANK TESTER
Updated 5:41 AM EST, Fri, Nov 13, 2009
The Shannon Melendi case rocked Miami in 1994.
But 15 years later the vibrations are still rattling the college student's family as her killer readies for a parole hearing that could see him walk out of prison in a year.
Butch Hinton is currently serving a life sentence in Georgia but is up for parole in 2011.
"He is an animal," said U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is working with the Melendi family to block Hinton's release. The family and Southwest High School have put together a petition to try and keep Hinton in prison for life.
On the Melendi's family website, the family asks for people to join the cause.
Shannon Melendi was a beautiful, bright, 19-year-old scholar-athlete who was attending Atlanta's Emory University when she suddenly disappeared March 26, 1994. Her mistake? She went to lunch with Hinton.
There was a massive search. A body was never found, but Hinton was always a suspect. It took years but an Atlanta detective team put the case together and a jury did the rest.
As the case unfolded, the Miami community rallied behind Yvonne and Luis Melendi. Funds were raised, rewards offered, press conferences were held, and the family members were in Atlanta on the investigation's front lines.
And then there were the pictures. Luis Melendi is a professional photographer.
As a proud father he had shot hundreds upon hundreds of pictures of his eldest daughter. Those photos, no portraits, aired every night for weeks on local TV stations. Shannon's face became one of the most recognizable images in recent memory. Mention her name today and people will instantly respond. The images kept the story alive, on the air and on the front pages.
And because of the photographs they remember Butch Hinton, the airline mechanic, Sunday school teacher and softball umpire who finally confessed that he killed Shannon and burned her body.
Students at Southwest High School, where Shannon was a stand out soccer team member, have a petition drive going to urge the State of Georgia Board of Pardons-Parole to deny Hinton parole. They have solid backing Ros-Lehtinen.
Miami-Dade Police detectives who aided in the Shannon Melendi case warn that if no effort is mounted to oppose Hinton's parole he could walk.
Shannon's family hopes the community will rally again and slam the door on Hinton for good.
"The only thing that happens to these predators is they get better at what they are doing," Yvonne Melendi said. "Every time they cut them loose, they get better."
First Published: Nov 12, 2009 5:52 PM EST
You Might Like
You have 2000 characters left
