Pablo Melendez

Overview

Pablo Melendez was sentenced to death on May 21, 1996. At the guilt/innocence stage of trial, the State presented fifteen witnesses, including testimony from the surviving victim, to establish the circumstances surrounding the robbery/murder of which Melendez was convicted.

Timeline

• September 1, 1994 (evening) — Melendez visited and drank beer with a group of friends in the driveway of a Fort Worth residence.
• Approximately 11:30 p.m. — Melendez stated, in a voice loud enough for most to hear, his intention to rob “some mother fucker,” and walked away alone.
• Approximately 11:30 p.m. — Melendez approached the pickup truck in the nearby parking lot of a self-service car wash and fired one shot into the cab, striking Tommie Joe Seagraves in the neck.
• Approximately 11:30 p.m. — Melendez demanded that Michael Sanders hand over all the money in the truck; Sanders was ordered out of the vehicle, forced to walk toward Melendez, and handed over the money.
• Approximately 11:30 p.m. — Melendez fired again and struck Sanders in the back, then fired three more shots striking Sanders in either the back or the arm.
• Approximately 11:30 p.m. — After Sanders lay dying, Melendez approached, reached through the cab with the gun, placed the muzzle next to Seagraves’ forehead, and pulled the trigger; nothing happened because the gun was empty.
• Within minutes — Sanders died.

The offence

On the evening of September 1, 1994, Melendez, who was eighteen years old, visited and drank beer with a group of friends in the driveway of a Fort Worth residence. At approximately 11:30 p.m., Melendez stated, in a voice loud enough for most to hear, his intention to rob “some mother fucker,” and walked away alone.

In the nearby parking lot of a self-service car wash, the two victims had parked their pick-up truck parallel to a walk-up pay phone. They had been there for a number of minutes when one of them, Tommie Joe Seagraves, noticed Melendez walking up behind the truck. As Seagraves looked on, he warned the truck’s driver, Michael Sanders, of Melendez’s approach. Melendez positioned himself about fifteen feet from the driver’s side door.

Without any warning or even a word being spoken, Melendez turned and fired one shot into the cab of the vehicle, and it struck Seagraves in the neck. Melendez then announced his first demand that Sanders hand over all the money in the truck. As Sanders pleaded with Melendez not to shoot him, Sanders was ordered from the vehicle, forced to walk toward Melendez, and made to hand over the money.

After Sanders was relieved of his money, Sanders turned and started back toward the truck where Seagraves still sat wounded and unable to move. Before Sanders reached the vehicle, Melendez fired again and struck Sanders in the back. In rapid succession, Melendez fired three more shots, and all struck Sanders in either the back or the arm. Sanders finally toppled forward through the open driver’s side door and came to rest in the floorboard of the truck with his head resting against Seagraves’ leg.

As Sanders lay dying, Melendez approached, reached through the cab with the gun in his hand, placed the muzzle next to Seagraves’ forehead, and pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. The gun was empty, so Melendez simply turned and walked back in the direction he had come.

Victims and injuries

Seagraves received two bullet wounds: an initial wound when Melendez first approached, and a second wound received from a bullet that had passed through the decedent and struck Seagraves’ arm.

Sanders was shot four times and died within minutes.

Investigation and trial

Appeals

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit opinion 03-10352, Melendez v. Tex., No. 72,420 slip opinion at 2-3 (Tex. Crim. App. Oct. 7, 1998).