A New York resident has been sentenced to a lengthy prison term following his conviction for the brutal hammer murder of his senior neighbor, after she refused to lend him her vehicle.

Jonathan Melendez, 41, received a sentence on Monday that will see him serve 25 years to life for the murder of 88-year-old Rena Eves. The incident took place in August 2023, in Eves’ residence at Beaver Meadows Apartments on Eimicke Place in Watertown, a city approximately 70 miles north of Syracuse. Melendez was found guilty in October, as reported by Law&Crime, for the heinous crime.

Besides the second-degree murder conviction, Melendez faced additional charges including assault, illegal weapon possession, and evidence tampering. Court records reveal he was handed up to seven years for the possession charge and four years for tampering, both to be served consecutively with the murder sentence. An additional 25-year sentence for the assault charge will run concurrently.

Throughout the trial, Melendez chose to represent himself and consistently asserted his innocence, a stance he maintained during his sentencing.

At the hearing, he claimed, “For the people that were here during my trial, you saw that they planted the hammer. It was not Rena’s murder weapon,” as reported by local CBS station WWNY. “You saw that they erased blood from the crime scene. Why would they do that?”

Prosecutors successfully demonstrated that on August 27, 2023, Melendez fatally attacked Eves with a hammer. He was apprehended the same day wearing two layers of sweatpants, the outer pair clean and the inner pair stained with the victim’s blood.

In a 911 call placed by the defendant, he said the victim’s car had been stolen, a New York State Police investigator testified, according to a courtroom report from WWNY. Police, however, found the fob to Eves’ Honda Civic in Melendez’s pocket. Police then found the murder weapon in the trunk; the claw hammer was caked in blood and stuffed in a Walmart bag.

Jurors saw the hammer itself — along with a series of telltale text messages translated from Spanish between Melendez and his then-girlfriend sent before the slaying. In one text, the man said he had to “leave before doing something ugly,” to which the woman responded: “Don’t do anything to her.”

The defendant, for his part, reiterated that he and the victim had long been friends, noting he often stayed at her apartment.

“I didn’t kill Eves,” he told jurors during his opening statement, WWNY reported. “I loved and cared for her.”

As for the blood on his pants, Melendez said it got there when Eves cut her hand sometime before her death, according to WWNY.

Prosecutors also marshaled surveillance footage and dozens of other pieces of evidence to prove the killer’s culpability.

As for a motive, the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office argued Melendez killed his victim because she would not let him use her car.

During the trial, the defendant testified he discovered the deceased woman’s body but only called police several hours later because he fell asleep. He also said he suffers from drug-induced psychosis.

The victim’s family spoke at the convicted killer’s sentencing.

“Only a monster would be so heartless to a little old lady,” Eves’ granddaughter, Samantha Eves-Stewart, said in court before the sentence was issued, WWNY reported. Family members also reportedly told the judge that Melendez had repeatedly tried to call them, resulting in an order of protection for the family.

“It’s very clear to me that this community, or any community, is not safe with you around,” Judge David Renzi said to Melendez on Monday. “I am sentencing you to the maximum amount as requested by the DA and the victim’s family.”

State prison records show that Melendez is already serving almost 30 years in prison for rape and criminal contempt.