NEW HANOVER COUNTY — A jury convicted a 25-year-old man Wednesday in the murder of his ex girlfriend’s roommate, who law enforcement say was stabbed to death.
Jose Guillermo Yecerra-Ascanio of Venezuela was charged with first degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill, breaking and entering with the intent to terrorize, and misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. He will serve life in prison without parole, as sentenced by Superior Court Judge Tiffany Powers of Robeson County.
The incident took place in Wilmington at 508 Mercer Ave. on Aug. 1, 2024. The district attorney’s office prosecuted Yecerra-Ascanio after he fatally stabbed Melvin Gonalzes-Vellosa. According to the DA’s office, the multiple lashings delivered “fatal blows to his neck and back.”
Then-Wilmington Police Chief Donny Williams located Yecerra-Ascanio’s vehicle at the Crosswinds Apartments on St. Andrews Drive and took him into custody.
Prosectors say leading up to the event, Yecerra-Ascanio had been arrested and charged with a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence when he struck his 16-year-old ex-girlfriend, who lived on Mercer Avenue. He was released on July 29, 2024 and ordered not to have contact or return to her residence.
Presented during Yecerra-Ascanio’s trial were multiple eyewitness accounts, DNA evidence with Gonalzes-Vellosa’s blood in the defendant’s vehicle, admissions made by the defendant in text messages, and surveillance footage showing Yecerra-Ascanio’s actions before and after the murder.
Assistant District Attorney Amy White praised law enforcement for their “swift investigative” work on the case and thanked witnesses who came forward.
Assistant District Attorney Brad Matthews said: “We are very happy to be able to get justice for Mr. Gonzales-Vellosa’s family for this senseless and heinous crime.”
District Attorney Jason Smith also weighed in: “Nobody wins in a case like this. A young man will spend the rest of his life in prison and another man lost his life to violence, Domestic violence will not be tolerated in this jurisdiction.”
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