Cops have identified a suspect in the fatal August shooting of a Bronx father — and are asking the public’s help tracking the wanted man down.
Evaristo Melendez, 47, is being sought in the shooting of Clay Monsanto Jr., 32, who was shot in the back near E. 176th St. and Anthony Ave. in Morris Heights about 8:10 a.m. Aug. 26.
NYPD officials named the suspect and released a photo of him Monday.
Monsanto was the fourth member of his family to be murdered, after his father and two brothers were slain in his native Belize.
Melendez was wearing a black hooded sweater, black pants and blue sneakers when he fled the scene, cops said. He has a criminal history going back to 2001, according to police.
Medics rushed Monsanto Jr. to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he died.
“He was a very personable person, very charismatic,” said the victim’s wife, Nikkea Molina, who has a 4-year-old son and a daughter born earlier this year with Monsanto Jr.
Cops found a gun in Monsanto’s back right pocket after he was killed, NYPD officials said. Eight shell casings were recovered from the scene.
Monsanto Jr. immigrated to the United States as a teenager in 2008, fleeing violence in his home country of Belize.
“Belize is a rough place,” Molina said. “With all the problems happening down there, his family felt it was better for him to be away from that.”
Monsanto’s brother Kadeem Monsanto was shot to death in the Backatown area of Belize City in 2011 at age 17. Another brother, Claymar, was tragically shot and killed as an infant in 2002, dying in his father’s arms from a bullet likely meant for the dad, Clay Monsanto Sr., 52, according to local reports.
Monsanto Sr.’s own life came to a violent end when the alleged former gang leader was shot just days before Easter in a 2024 attack at his home in Belize after being deported from the U.S.
Colin Mixson / New York Daily News
A memorial for Clay Monsanto Jr. (Colin Mixson / New York Daily News)
Monsanto Jr. struggled coming to terms with his brothers’ violent deaths but had by the time of his father’s murder developed a spiritual resilience that allowed him to weather that tragedy with grace, his wife said.
“It affected him a lot when he was younger,” Molina said. “The recent passing of his dad, I was shocked at how he handled it. He looked at it like, this is not the end. He really feels there’s an afterlife. Like this definitely wasn’t the end. That’s how he felt about it.”
The day Monsanto Jr. was killed, cops released surveillance footage of the suspect and asked the public’s help identifying him.
Anyone with information on Melendez’s whereabouts is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
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