Woman used covid relief cash to hire a hitman to murder a love rival, police say

Jasmine Martinez was given £11,000 to help her beauty salon

A woman used government covid relief money to hire a hitman to kill a love rival, police have said. Jasmine Martinez allegedly used some of her $15,000 (£11,000) US Paycheck Protection Program to pay a gunman who fatally shot Le'Shonte Jones and wounded the 3-year-old daughter she was holding outside their Miami apartment on 3 May 2021, NBC reported. Jones, a transportation security administration agent at Miami Airport, was shot in broad daylight and died at the scene. The 24-year-old had allegedly been targeted by Martinez after several run-ins, culminating with the victim testifying in a case against Martinez's boyfriend. Martinez, 33, had applied for the covid relief cash to help her beauty salon through the pandemic and according to a warrant, a bank statement showed "a series of withdrawals of over $10,000 in cash and/or payments which occurs over the following days leading up to the homicide". Miami-Dade police confirmed that Martinez, 29-year-old Javon Carter, and a third man Romiel Robinson, 35, all now face murder charges. Jones' mother Darlene Dukes told NBC the trauma was something her granddaughter would have to live with "her whole life" as she remembers "everything that happened to her Mom". Related links:

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