Philadelphia

Man Faces Charges in Burglary of Murdered Main Line Model's Home

Andre Melton is accused of stealing from Christina Carlin-Kraft's Ardmore condo a few days before she was found dead in August.

What to Know

  • Andre Melton was arrested for allegedly burglarizing Christina Carlin-Kraft's Ardmore apartment back in August.
  • Carlin-Kraft was found strangled in her apartment a few days after the burglary. Jonathan Harris was arrested and charged in her murder.
  • Harris confessed to the two getting into a fight over cocaine, according to prosecutors.

Police arrested a man accused of burglarizing a model's Main Line apartment a few days before she was murdered, allegedly by a second suspect.

Andre Melton wasn't happy to see an NBC10 camera when he was led into the Lower Merion Township Police Department Thursday.

Partially covered by a hood, Melton yelled obscenities as he was led out of a police van and into the station.

"Get your f------ camera out my face," Melton shouted.

Melton was picked up Wednesday night in Philadelphia and transfered to neighboring Montgomery County to face charges related to the burglary of Christina Carlin-Kraft's Ardmore condo in August. Police say Melton gave Carlin-Kraft a ride back to her upscale condominium on Sibley Avenue after she had gone out drinking.

As Carlin-Kraft slept inside his car, Melton burgalized her apartment, according to investigators.

On Aug. 22, a few days after the burglary, Carlin-Kraft was found strangled inside her apartment. She was 36-years-old.

Jonathan Harris, 30, was arrested and charged in Carlin-Kraft's murder. Harris allegedly told police the two got into a fight after she refused to pay him for an ounce of cocaine he gave her.

He described a violent struggle in which Carlin-Kraft hit him with a glass bottle and he slapped her, repeatedly punched her and tied her up when she tried to flee, investigators said. He gave her a phone when she asked to call her dad, he said, but he started to choke her when she tried to call 911, according to officials.

When she stopped screaming he fled, police said, taking some clothing as well as the cocaine and jumping over the balcony. He told investigators he thought she was alive, according to officials.

Carlin-Kraft's beaten body was found in her bloodstained bedroom inside her apartment after police visited the home to do a wellness check.

Playboy Kraft Murder Suspect Ardmore
Surveillance images released by Montgomery County detectives
Surveillance images of a man later identified as Harris. See Larger

Kraft's modeling credits include Playboy, Maxim, David Yurman and MAC Cosmetics, according to a profile on a modeling website. In 2016, she was charged with assault in New York City for striking a restaurant staffer. The charges were later dropped.

Family remembered Kraft as "more than a Playboy model."

Congress Guns
AP
Christina Carlin-Kraft, 36, was found dead inside her Ardmore condo on Aug. 23, 2018. An autopsy found she was strangled. | See Larger

"She was the sweetest girl, loving and kind and generous and thoughtful," Kraft's aunt, Angelique Carlin, said. "Those are the things I will miss about my niece."

Only NBC10 talked to family members of a former model found murdered in her Mainline condo.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
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