RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The governor of North Carolina has announced a $5,000 reward for information in the death of a U.S. Army specialist shot and killed last year.
News outlets report that Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday announced the reward more than a year after Spc. Jose Juan Melendez Jr., 31, was killed in Raleigh while on leave from Fort Bragg.
Police had said Melendez volunteered to be his friends' designated driver and was walking to his vehicle in an apartment complex on Raleigh’s north side in the early morning hours of Nov. 29 when he was shot. A 911 caller reported seeing someone run into the woods.
“I saw somebody running,” the woman on the phone said. “Shots were fired. He was running towards the woods.”
The woman identified the runner as a male. After the shooting, Melendez was taken to WakeMed hospital, where he died from his wounds, police said at the time.
A Raleigh police release says his family held a vigil for him on the anniversary of his death. The family also announced a $15,000 reward in May.
Melendez served as a nodal network systems operator for the 528th Sustainment Brigade at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He was on leave at the time of the shooting and was scheduled to return to duty later that morning.
Melendez enlisted in the Army in 2013 and attended basic combat training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He was previously a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, and had deployed for nine months in support of Operation Inherent Resolve against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
Melendez’s awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terror Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Parachutist Badge and the Marksmanship Qualification Badge.
The Army last year confirmed that Melendez’s death is under investigation by city police, and said all questions regarding the incident should be referred to the Raleigh Police Department Public Information Office.
