Granddaughter arrested for murder of couple in Fort Lauderdale

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. – Fort Lauderdale police have made another arrest in the case of an elderly couple who were murdered in their own home in March: the couple’s granddaughter.

Authorities took 39-year-old Jalisa Hill into custody Thursday on two counts of first-degree murder.

She is now charged in connection with the murder of her grandparents, Major and Claudette Melvin, who were in their 80s, on March 22. The two were found shot to death and their vehicle was stolen.

Hill's arrest came about two weeks after the arrest of her former boyfriend, 30-year-old Maurice Anthony Newson.

“It is believed that she worked in collaboration with Maurice Newson to murder her grandparents,” a Fort Lauderdale police spokesman said Thursday. “The Fort Lauderdale Police Department was once again able to close the case thanks to our community, who provided information during the investigation that led to the arrests.”

Police arrested him on August 27.

After her death, her red Ford Fusion was stolen from her driveway and immediately became the focus of the investigation. Newson has been linked to this car.

About two weeks after the murders, the vehicle was found at a tow yard in Wilton Manors after a man notified police after seeing the vehicle on the news.

According to police, Newson's previous arrest warrants stated that Hill voluntarily submitted to a lie detector test and “told the truth about her involvement in the deaths of her grandparents.”

Even when Local 10 News tried to speak to her after Newson's arrest, she was evasive.

As of late Thursday afternoon, Hill was not listed in the Broward Sheriff's Office's online jail database.