BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
At the age of 17, Jonathan Melvis was sentenced to 30 years for stabbing of a man in 2005. However, last week, the charge was upgraded to murder after the man died.
According to police, Vincent Thomas Baker died earlier this year. He had been on a ventilator after he was stabbed in the chest on March 31, 2005.
After the stabbing, Baker, who was 28, was transported to a local hospital, where he was treated for a wound in the chest. He was later transferred to South Tampa Health and Rehab Center and placed on a ventilator.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, Baker collapsed and suffered brain injuries as a result of a loss of blood.
An autopsy report from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office, listed Baker’s cause of death as “pneumonia from anoxic encephalopathy due to the chest stab wound, which penetrated his heart,” police said.
[private]The investigation into the stabbing reportedly led the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office detectives to Melvis, who was 15 at the time of the stabbing. Melvis was arrested on May 19, 2005, and charged him with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Police said that on March 31, 2005, around 5 p.m., Baker was walking home from work on Drycreek Drive, when he met Melvis. The two exchanged words and Baker continued walking.
Melvis, who is now 21, is alleged to have borrowed a bicycle and rode towards Baker, got off the bicycle, and stabbed Baker in the chest.
Melvis was convicted of the stabbing and sentenced to 30 years in prison on November 14, 2006.
“The cause and the manner of Baker’s death was ruled as a homicide. Upon review by the Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney’s Office, a 2nd degree murder charge was filed . He will be brought back to Tampa to be arraigned on the new charge,” a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office said.[/private]
