VIRGINIA BEACH — Cyanide poisoning killed a 35-year-old mother who was attacked in her Virginia Beach driveway on Valentine’s Day, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Ellie Mizon Tran died on Feb. 15 at Sentara Princess Anne Hospital, about a day after she was attacked in her Still Meadow Court driveway.
Tran’s ex-boyfriend and father of her 2-year-old daughter, 29-year-old Joseph Merlino III, was charged with second-degree murder in connection with Tran’s death on Feb. 16.
Tran’s parents told Southside Daily in February that when their daughter was attacked around 8 p.m. on Valentine’s Day she was able to call 911 for herself; however, she quickly became so sick she couldn’t speak, lost consciousness and needed a breathing tube.
Tran’s murder isn’t the first time Merlino has faced criminal charges involving his ex-girlfriend.
In July 2016, Tran pressed charges against Merlino after telling police he assaulted her in front of their daughter.
“My boyfriend scared me. He told me he will put me under the ground behind his house,” Tran wrote in a July 2016 criminal complaint filed in Virginia Beach Juvenile Domestic Relations Court.
Tran went on to detail the alleged attack, writing that Merlino grabbed her by the neck, restrained her hands and feet and hung her upside down with her head almost touching the ground.
“I could not do anything,” she wrote. “He did that to me several times in front of my daughter … My daughter was so scared and she cried and scream [sic].”
Merlino was charged with assault against a family member. The charge was dismissed with prejudice, and Merlino was fined $1,000.
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