Is Colvin Hinton Still In Jail? Dateline Digs Into Shannon Melendi Murder In Chattooga Georgia
Dateline: Shannon Melendi’s killer Colvin Hinton was denied parole by the Georgia Parole Board. He is currently sentenced to life but is eligible for parole every seven years.
Colvin Hinton, best known as Butch Hinton, was charged with the murder of Shannon Melendi in 2005, 10 years after the teenager’s murder. It was one of the rarest cases, probably the first time in the state when a person is charged for murder without the body or crime scene.
The convict repeatedly denied those charges against him in the beginning. But when he was imprisoned, Hinton confessed his crimes to his father either way. He also told ABC News that he raped Shannon twice before killing her and burning her body.
Is Colvin Hinton Still In Jail? Prison For Life Sentence
Colvin Hinton is still in jail as he was denied parole in 2013 and 2020.
The 61-year-old was convicted for the murder of Shannon Melendi. He was given a sentence of life imprisonment, but under Georgia law, he is eligible for parole every seven years.
Most recently, Hinton was up for parole in 2020. During that time, the victim’s family started a petition to keep the killer behind bars. A lot of people on social media supported the petition.
Both of his paroles were denied, and Hinton will be eligible to apply for parole again in 2025.
Miami’s Shannon Melendi missed another birthday. Keep her murderer, Colvin Hinton, in GA prison @GA_ParoleBoard pic.twitter.com/jlBj26ngUl
— Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) October 29, 2013
Who Is Colvin Hinton? Miami Native Murders A 19-Year-Old In Georgia
Colvin Hinton is a former Delta Airways employee and a softball umpire.
A native of Miami, Florida, Hinton worked as an umpire in the softball game featuring Shannon Melendi. After the match, he took the 19-year-old to lunch and got to know her.
Moreover, it took the police more than ten years to change him with murder. Building a case without a body or crime scene was pretty challenging, but the authorities did a good job. As a result, they charged and incarcerated him for murder.
They connected Hinton to the case after receiving an anonymous phone call from a phone booth where they found Melendi’s rings wrapped in tape inside a bag.
Furthermore, Hinton is also a convicted arsonist who was found guilty of arson and insurance fraud in 1995, earning him seven years in prison. But the convicted felon later confessed that he never meant to burn his property. He was just burning Melendi’s body at the time.
Shannon Melendi, an Emory student, went missing in ’94. Her body was never found. Colvin “Butch” Hinton, III was convicted of her murder & given a life sentence.
Now eligible for parole; her family is fighting to keep him in prison. More w/ @JonShirek #11Alive 6pm #UpLateATL pic.twitter.com/G44pFpmMVk
— Cheryl Preheim (@CherylPreheim) February 21, 2020
Who Was Shannon Melendi? What Happened To Her?
Shannon Melendi was a sophomore at Emory University.
The 19-year-old had a dream to join the Navy and later become a lawyer. Before college, she was reportedly the president of her junior and senior classes, the captain of the debate team, and a soccer team member.
But everything changed in March 1994, when she acquainted with Colvin Hinton. The latter raped her multiple times before starting her with a tie. He then burnt her body in his backyard and disposed of the ashes.
Shannon Melendi’s body remains are not found until now.
