Grandmother of raped 13-year-old found dead in alley wants answers

AKRON, Ohio – It’s been a year since Melanie Elkins’ body was found in an Akron alley near South Arlington Street.

Now, her grandmother says, she will make sure that her name is not forgotten.

“It seems like yesterday and yet like an eternity ago,” said Rhonda Elkins-Chapman.

Body of 13-year-old girl found in Akron; police investigating

READ MORE: Body of 13-year-old girl found in Akron; police investigating

Elkins-Chapman said she is still at a loss for words as she realizes every day that her granddaughter Melanie is no longer here.

“You miss her, but you know she’s in good hands,” Elkins-Chapman said.

A year ago, on June 12, Akron police found the 13-year-old’s body in Minordy Place, an alley near South Arlington Street, after receiving a call from a local resident.

At that time, authorities found no visible signs of injury on Melanie’s body and described the circumstances as sudden death.

However, the Summit County Coroner later determined that she died from a combination of methamphetamine and fentanyl.

““It hurts to know that a child is lying dead in that alley,” former Akron City Councilwoman Tara Mosley Weems said on June 13, 2023.

According to an Akron police report, Melanie’s father reported her missing several days before her body was discovered.

He said there were problems in the family and that’s why she ran away.

But last February, Rhonda told News 5 that Melanie told her on Thanksgiving 2022 that she had been raped by 30-year-old Anthony Mignano, who moved in with the then 12-year-old and her father, according to the Summit County District Attorney’s Office.

“After Thanksgiving weekend, I turned to the courts in Akron, the juvenile court,” Elkins-Chapman said on February 8, 2024. “I spent seven months, up until the week she died, trying to get her out of her situation.”

“She was a light,” says the grandmother of a 13-year-old from Akron who was raped and found dead in an alley

RELATED LINK: “She was a light,” says the grandmother of a 13-year-old from Akron who was raped and found dead in an alley

Mignano has since been sentenced to life imprisonment for Melanie’s rape after admitting to having sex with the young girl three times.

However, he is not facing any charges in connection with her death.

READ MORE: Barberton man sentenced to life in prison for raping girl who was later found dead in an Akron alley

In another case related to Melanie’s death, 31-year-old Keith Earley was arrested and sentenced to nine months in prison after allegedly dumping her body in the Akron alley.

To date, Akron Police Captain Michael Miller has no new information about who is responsible for her death.

““I’m looking for simple answers, as always. The police are still working on the case and I’m looking forward to the answers from the juvenile court,” said Elkins-Chapman. “I just want some final answers on their last interviews. They’ve been helping me for seven months and now I’m at this point.”

The Akron Police Department’s investigation is ongoing.

News 5’s Remi Murrey has reached out to Summit County Child Protective Services, but has yet to receive a response to her inquiry.