The family of Salaythis Melvin, shot dead five years ago by an Orange County deputy while running away, has settled its lawsuit against the Sheriff’s Office for $1 million and an apology letter from the former deputy who killed him.
The money will be paid by the Florida Sheriffs Risk Management Fund on behalf of James Montiel, who was relieved of duty without pay by the Sheriff’s Office for charges unrelated to Melvin’s death. The office admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement, according to the agreement’s terms obtained by the Orlando Sentinel but first reported by WKMG.
Melvin, 22, was killed in a parking at the Florida Mall on Aug. 7, 2020, after deputies in plain clothes and unmarked vehicles descended upon a group he was with. The deputies were seeking to arrest another man who was under investigation for a deadly shooting in which Melvin was not involved.
Melvin took off running and Montiel, according to footage taken from a distance, took a shooting stance and opened fire.
Sheriff John Mina justified the shooting at the time, as Montiel had claimed Melvin was reaching for a gun in his waistband recovered at the scene. But Melvin’s family and their supporters questioned the agency’s tactics, including whether Melvin knew his pursuers were law enforcement.
A federal lawsuit alleging excessive force was filed nearly a year later on behalf of Melvin’s mother, Michelle McKee. Carlus Haynes, the lawyer representing McKee in the lawsuit, declined to comment on the settlement, while the Sheriff’s Office didn’t respond to multiple requests despite releasing the agreement to the Sentinel.
It is not clear whether Montiel’s apology letter was written and delivered as part of the agreement, and a follow-up request for its contents has not been fulfilled.
Outrage at Melvin’s death exploded into protests at the Florida Mall and throughout Orlando, organized by local activists in the wake of regional demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.
Acting at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands took to the streets in solidarity with Floyd, Melvin and others killed by law enforcement. That list included another local death, Jean Celestin, who during a mental health crisis a year earlier was killed by Ocoee and Windermere police who shocked him multiple times with Tasers, hogtied and left him on the ground.
Carlus Haynes, attorney for the Melvin family, talks to the media — following a press conference by State Attorney Monique H. Worrell where she announced the results of their investigation into the Salaythis Melvin shooting, on Friday, January 28, 2022. Deputy James Montiel fatally shot Melvin in the back as the 22-year-old ran away from him in the Florida Mall’s parking lot Aug. 7, 2020.
(Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/ Orlando Sentinel)
Floyd’s death at the time was the catalyst for a movement of reformist candidates for prosecutor’s offices around the country, with Melvin’s death becoming a focal issue in the 2020 race for Orange-Osceola state attorney. Monique Worrell, a progressive Democrat who won that race and was reelected last year, ran on a platform of accountability for law enforcement accused of misconduct and pledged to review both incidents.
However, she declined to bring charges in Melvin’s and Celestin’s deaths, which frustrated activists who previously supported her. In January 2022, while announcing no charges would be filed for Melvin’s death, Worrell said there was no evidence to disprove Montiel was in fear for his safety when he fired at Melvin. She further pointed to footage that backed up his claim that Melvin had a gun in his hand.
“As a Black woman who is the mother of Black sons, I understand that anger and I understand that frustration,” Worrell said at the time, further calling the decision not to charge Montiel “a legal decision and not a moral one.” Months earlier, Worrell’s office announced no charges against the officers who killed Celestin, saying there was “no legal basis” to accuse them of a crime despite calling Celestin’s death “unjust.”
As for Montiel, he was relieved of duty without pay last year after being arrested in Seminole County and charged with 10 counts possessing child sexual abuse material. He was later charged again, this time accused of using agency databases to keep tabs on the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office detective investigating him, for which prosecutors charged him with 30 counts of unauthorized access to a computer system.
Both cases are ongoing, according to court records.
