Bodybuilder ‘She Hulk' beaten to death with hammer, husband found dead: ‘She was being abused'
A Colombian bodybuilder known as 'She Hulk' was beaten to death with a hammer while vacationing in Spain — and her husband was found dead with 'self-inflicted stab wounds,' according to police and local reports.
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez, 43, and her beefy husband of four years Jarrod Gelling, 46, were found dead in their rental home in Malaga, where they had been staying for about a month following Gelling's knee surgery.
Mendez, who went by Amy, had told relatives that Gelling was being aggressive toward her over the past year and the two intended on divorcing following their trip, which would have ended with a bodybuilding competition in Portugal in a couple of weeks, family members said.
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez was found dead on Thursday in Malaga, Spain.
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez/Instagram
'She was being abused and wanted a divorce,' the victim's family told Spanish newspaper Sur.
Mendez died as a result of repeated blows with a hammer while Gelling's body was found in the bathroom with what police have described as 'apparent self-inflicted stab wounds,' according to The Sun, citing local Spanish outlets.
Their bloodied bodies were found in the residence around 2 p.m. Thursday.
'Her body showed obvious signs of violence and that of the man's signs indicating a suicide-type death which is something an autopsy will have to confirm,' Spanish National Police said.
Mendez's family hadn't heard from her since Saturday, after she and Gelling — who is reportedly Colombian and American — had traveled to southern Spain from Dubai, where they had spent most of the past year.
Mendez's niece Yuleydis told Sur her aunt was going to help Gelling following a knee operation before traveling to Portugal to compete and then going back to Colombia to finalize their divorce.
Mendez dubbed herself the 'She Hulk.'
Zunilda Hoyos Mendez/Instagram
'For my aunt, it was her last trip with him — a farewell. She had taken the decision to divorce him, because of his aggressive behavior,' said Yuleydis.
'They had broken up already once and were apart for quite a while but then got back together again to try to resolve things, although the mistreatment continued,' she added.
In addition to bodybuilding, Mendez boasted more than 100,000 followers on OnlyFans, according to local reports.
Her coach, Brandon Rey, said in a heartbreaking Instagram post that in just 17 days, they 'were going to hit the stage and shock the world.'
'I told you that you could possibly be in the top 10 in the world by the end of this year and I meant it,' Rey wrote. 'Rest in paradise Amy.'
'We were so close to the end, but the closest person to you ended it too soon,' Rey said in another post. 'Domestic violence should never be taken lightly because it can leave many with a heavy heart.'
Police are still investigating the killing.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Dodgers commit $1 million toward families of immigrants 'impacted by recent events'
One day after Department of Homeland Security officers infringed upon their home amid nearly two weeks of heightened tension in Los Angeles, the Dodgers on Friday announced a $1 million "commitment" toward financial assistance for families of immigrants "impacted by recent events in the region." Los Angeles has been roiled by aggressive raids from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which have honed in on workplaces frequented by immigrants. Marines and the National Guard have been dispatched to Los Angeles in the wake of protests that have seen heavy use of tear gas and projectile weapons by law enforcement. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have been heavily criticized for both action and inaction from their heavily Latino fan base. Manager Dave Roberts stated he didn't have enough information to opine on the situation, and the club came under more scrutiny after R&B singer Nezza sang the national anthem in Spanish at Dodger Stadium, and posted videos and correspondence showing it was against the Dodgers' wishes. Veteran utilityman Kiké Hernández posted a message of support on Instagram, and in the days following the club indicated it would soon show support for the area's immigrant population. Then came Thursday's caravan of DHS vans and vehicles to the Dodger Stadium gate, where they apparently hoped to use the grounds for staging. Protestors arrived and DHS officials were eventually escorted out a separate exit by the Los Angeles Police Department. But many remained and turned their grievances toward the Dodgers for staying largely neutral at a time the community was reeling. The Dodgers' statement nodded non-specifically toward events in the area while not referencing ICE, DHS or other outside forces. "What's happening in Los Angeles has reverberated among thousands upon thousands of people, and we have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected,' said Dodgers president Stan Kasten, whose club generated an estimated $752 million in revenue last season and is valued at nearly $7 billion. 'We believe that by committing resources and taking action, we will continue to support and uplift the communities of Greater Los Angeles.' Mayor Karen Bass indicated the external infringement on the community has had an impact. 'These last weeks have sent shockwaves of fear rippling through every neighborhood and have had a direct impact on our economy," Bass said.
3 hours ago
Former mayor from Haiti gets prison time for lying to get into the US
CONCORD, N.H. -- CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — A former mayor from Haiti convicted of lying about his violent past on his visa application was sentenced Friday to nine years in prison and three years of supervision, after which he will be subject to deportation proceedings. Jean Morose Viliena, of Malden, Massachusetts, was the mayor of Les Irois, Haiti, from December 2006 until February 2010. He was convicted of three counts of visa fraud in March and sentenced Friday in federal court in Boston. 'For more than a decade, he lived freely and comfortable in this country while the victims of his brutality lived in fear, exile and pain,' U.S. Attorney Leah Foley said in statement. 'Today's sentence brings a measure of justice for the lives he shattered and sends a clear message: the United States will not be a safe have for human rights abusers.' According to prosecutors, Viliena committed 'violent atrocities' against his political foes in an isolated, rural community of about 22,000 residents on Haiti's western tip. In 2007, he was accused of leading a group of his allies to the home of a political opponent, where he and his associates shot and killed the opponent's younger brother, then smashed his skull with a rock. In 2008, Viliena and his allies went armed with guns, machetes, picks and sledgehammers to shut down a community radio station that he opposed, prosecutors said. Authorities said he pistol-whipped and punched a man and ordered an associate to shoot and kill the man and another person. Both survived, but one of the men lost a leg and the other was blinded in one eye. When he applied for a visa to enter the U.S., however, Viliena denied having 'ordered, carried out or materially assisted in extrajudicial and political killings and other acts of violence against the Haitian people.' He later received a permanent resident card and has raised a child who is a U.S. citizen by birth, prosecutors said. Defense attorneys argued in court that it was members of a rival political party — including some who they say are government witnesses — who committed the violence. They described the former mayor as the son of a farmer who became a teacher and eventually ran for mayor to improve conditions in town. In 2023, Viliena was found liable by an American jury in a civil trial
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Doctor posted couple's decapitated baby online, suit says. GA jury awards $2.25M
A 12-person jury awarded $2.25 million to the parents of a newborn who was decapitated at birth, ruling against an Atlanta-area doctor they hired for an autopsy, according to their attorneys. Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor paid Dr. Jackson Gates $2,500 for a postmortem exam of their son, 'Baby Isaiah,' after he died July 9, 2023, according to civil court filings previously reviewed by McClatchy News. Nearly two months later, they sued Gates, saying he took videos of their newborn's body without permission and shared the graphic content online to his Instagram account. The couple horrifically lost Baby Isaiah when the newborn was decapitated by another doctor at Southern Regional Medical Center in Clayton County, according to a separate lawsuit they filed against Ross' obstetrician. The doctor, Tracey St. Julian, was accused of applying too much force on the baby's head and neck during the delivery, resulting in decapitation. Ross and Taylor were heartbroken, then were outraged upon learning Gates shared autopsy videos online of their baby, according to a complaint they filed in Fulton County Court. The case went to trial this week, according to the couple's attorneys, Shofaetiyah Watson of The Edmond Firm and Cory J. Lynch of The Law Firm of Cory J. Lynch, LLC. On the third day of trial, June 18, the jury awarded $2 million in compensatory damages to Ross and Taylor, as well as $250,000, the highest amount possible, in punitive damages, their legal counsel said in a news release. 'While we are pleased that a jury punished Dr. Jackson Gates for his reprehensible behavior, nothing can ease the pain that the parents, Jessica Ross and Treveon Isaiah Taylor, Sr., have experienced in losing their baby boy in such a horrific way,' Watson and Lynch said in a joint statement. 'This young couple trusted him with the remains of their precious baby,' they added. 'Gates, in turn, repaid this trust by posting horrific images of their child for the world to see.' Gates did not immediately return McClatchy News' request for comment June 20. The pathologist and primary care doctor has a practice in Conyers, about a 25-mile drive southeast from Atlanta. With their lawsuit, Taylor and Ross accused Gates of invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and fraud, their attorneys said. When they initially sued him, Gates defended himself in a video he shared to Instagram, saying anything he posted online was for educational purposes, WAGA-TV reported in September 2023. Gates was accused of uploading footage of the baby's autopsy a second time, after taking the videos down in response to a cease-and-desist letter sent to him on the couple's behalf, according to their attorneys. 'Gates initially removed the videos but inexplicably reposted them, even after being informed of the parents' emotional pain resulting from the initial posts,' the release said. Death ruled a homicide In February 2024, the Clayton County Medical Examiner's Office announced the baby's death was ruled a homicide, McClatchy News reported. At the time, the medical examiner's office's director, Brian Byars, told McClatchy News in a phone interview that the baby's head was 'completely separated from the body.' During delivery, the newborn's head became stuck in the vaginal canal in a complicated medical event known as shoulder dystocia, according to Taylor and Ross' lawsuit against St. Julian and Southern Regional Medical Center. That case is ongoing, their legal counsel said. Southern Regional Medical Center denied the accusations involving the facility in a September 2023 statement previously shared with McClatchy News. When the parents sued the hospital and St. Julian, the couple said both parties tried to hide the fact that their baby was decapitated, discouraged them from having an autopsy performed and encouraged them to cremate their son's body. As for the case against Gates, the couple's attorneys said their 'goal was to ensure that Gates was held accountable for his unconscionable lack of empathy and invasion of our clients' privacy.' 'We thank the jury for helping us accomplish that objective,' they added.
