Jason Melo, 26, is on trial accused of choking and beating his ex-girlfriend. Photo / Instagram
Jason Melo, 26, is on trial accused of choking and beating his ex-girlfriend. Photo / Instagram
A woman who was forced to walk naked down a street in Harlem in the middle of winter while being filmed by her jealous ex-boyfriend burst into tears on the stand on Monday as jurors watched the footage in shock.
"He grabbed my neck, and forced it really hard. I was losing breath," the 25-year-old testified. The woman, whose name has been withheld said Jason Melo, "tortured" her for two hours before he pushed her out into the cold and pulled out his cell phone to record her.
"He was saying many things, like I'm a whore, I could kill you right now, I'm capable of anything," the woman told the court.
Melo, who frequently posts videos of himself to social media, is alleged to have assaulted his girlfriend before forcing her to walk naked down a New York street.
The ordeal lasted for several hours as Melo threatened to kill her after finding explicit texts from other men on her phone.
Melo, 26, also allegedly swung a heavy stone Buddha statue at her, as if he intended to bash her head in, while their 2-month old daughter lay on the bed, just feet away.
"He said, you know what, you're gonna pay. You're gonna get naked and you're gonna go out on the street, and you're gonna pay," she testified.
In the footage which was posted to Instagram and LiveLeak, Melo could be seen following the woman wrapped in a bath towel, down the block while he berated her in Spanish.
In the two-minute clip which was seen by jurors on Monday, Melo was seen pulling the towel away forcing her to stand between two parked cars in an attempt to cover her modesty.
Melo says: "Take off your towel! Co-operate b***h. Show what you are, so pretty and so great. She's a tart. Let's go. Let's go. Say hi to the camera and say why you're doing this.
"Take off your towel and pay the price for the shame I feel after telling you how pretty you were and that I wanted to start a family with you, but it the meantime you were talking to seven other men."
The woman retorts: "But not to have sex with them."
The woman found a motorbike cover to protect her modesty.
He then rips the towel from her, leaving her completely naked in the street, apart from a pair of boots. As she tried to hide between parked cars, he continued to hurl insults at her.
"Pay the price for your shame!" he bellowed at her. "You're going to pay the price for being a whore. Since you're a whore, you're going to pay like a whore."
The woman eventually wrapped herself in a motorcycle cover while Melo continued to film.
Adding insult to injury, Melo later tried to sell merchandise based on the video, including T-shirts and hats bearing his quotes.
Jason Melo, 26, is on trial accused of choking and beating his ex-girlfriend. Photo / Instagram
At the time of his arrest Melo defended his actions saying: "I didn't hit her or anything. Even the detectives are here with me and some of them congratulated me because they see how happy she is and I didn't pull her hair or anything.
"Some of the other prisoners are also on my side and they say some of them would have done worse things."
Meanwhile the woman he is accused of beating, who has not been identified, has revealed that she was scared of Melo.
