VERO BEACH — A Gifford man will spend life behind bars after a jury in November convicted him of fatally shooting a man over a $40 dispute, according to court records.
Delray Antonio Montaque, 36, of the 3400 block of 44th Place, was found guilty at trial of first-degree murder with a firearm in the Dec. 19, 2019 fatal shooting of Mertilian “Tilly” Mesinor, 29, also of Gifford.
Mesinor was killed in the 4400 block of 35th Avenue during an incident that started earlier in a quarrel about money, Assistant State Attorney William Long said after Montaque was convicted.
The fatal shooting involved two siblings, Mertilian Mesinor, who was killed, and his younger brother Loren Ford, who witnessed the shooting and testified against Montaque at trial.
Jurors were told the murder happened “over $40 and a little bit of pot,” Long said in November.
During Montaque’s sentencing hearing Thursday, Circuit Judge Robert Meadows imposed a mandatory life prison term for the first-degree murder with a firearm conviction. Montaque received a second life term for a conviction of attempted second-degree murder with a firearm, court records show.
Delray Montaque
According to trial testimony, Loren Ford, the younger victim, was working as a drug dealer for Montaque, who was also dealing drugs.
“(Ford) went on his own and he wasn’t supposed to,” Long said. “He started selling drugs right next to the defendant’s house for himself, as opposed to working for the defendant.”
Montaque and Ford started arguing over $40 and when Ford couldn’t get his money back, he got his older brother to help him retrieve it.
But that led to a bigger argument outside Montaque’s home, where Ford stood with Mesinor and his 3-year-old son, who was in a baby stroller.
During the dispute, Mesinor threatened Montaque and told him “I’m going to kill you, your mom, your baby, and everyone in your family,” according to Long.
Ford and Mesinor then began walking away but when Montaque soon found the two men, he exited his truck and “guns them down,” according to Long.
Mesinor later died at a hospital, court records show.
Jurors also saw letters discovered by Indian River County Sheriff’s Detective Shannon Kartak that Montaque had written to people outside the county jail in his attempt to influence what witnesses said about him at trial.
Montaque was “recruiting testimony and offered to pay witnesses,” not to be present, jurors were told.
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Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers and is writer and co-host of “Uncertain Terms,” a true-crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Fatal shooting of Gifford man over pot in 2019 earns killer life term