- Prosecutors accuse
Florida woman of using a PPP loan to pay a hitman in a murder-for-hire plot. - The Miami Herald reported that court documents show that Jasmine Martinez withdrew large sums before Le'Shonte Jones was fatally shot last May.
A Florida woman is accused of hiring a hitman to kill another woman using a $15,000 federal payroll protection loan.
The woman, identified as 33-year-old Jasmine Martinez, was charged with first-degree
Jones, a 24-year-old Transpiration Security Administration agent, was gunned down in front of her child near her Miami apartment last May. Her 3-year-old daughter was also wounded during the attack, the paper reported.
Authorities accuse Martinez of using funds from the pandemic relief program, which was supposed to be used for her salon business, The Herald reported, citing court records.
An arrest warrant obtained by NBC Miami also stated Martinez took out thousand days before Jones was killed.
"Bank statements were obtained which show a series of withdrawals of over $10,000 in cash and/or payments which occurs over the following days leading up to the homicide," the network reported.
Miami-Dade police have identified the hitman as Javon Carter, who was charged with first-degree murder and attempted murder, according to The Herald. Romiel Robinson, who police said served as the middleman, was also arrested on charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Martinez and Jones apparently have a lengthy history, The Daily Mail reported. Martinez was arrested in 2016 for attacking Jones who was dating her ex-boyfriend, but the case was later dropped. Martinez was then taken into custody two years later after being accused of assaulting Jones, the site reported.
Following the February 2020 trial where she testified against Martinez in relation to the assault, Jones was a victim of a robbery by two men in the courthouse parking lot, The Daily Mail reported.
One of the suspects, Kelly Nelson — Martinez's boyfriend at the time — was charged with armed robbery for the alleged
NBC Miami reported, citing the arrest warrant, that following the incident Jones reported that she was being harassed and bribed to not testify against Kelly, including received messages online telling her " to call her attorney and say Nelson did not have a gun."
Jail calls reviewed by police after Jone's death revealed conversations between Martinez and Nelson where in one instance, Martinez said she's "ready to kill this ho," the warrant said, according to The Herald.
Lawyers for Martinez and Robinson have denied that their clients played a role in Jones' death, NBC Miami reported.