Death of an Angel

The life of the 25-year-old Club Kid who was brutally slain by Alig and "Freeze"

When Angel Melendez appeared in the clubs of New York, he became instantly recognisable for his trademark look; a large pair of angel wings strapped to his back. Moving to the city with his family when he was just eight years old, as a younger man Melendez dreamed of working in the film industry, possibly even becoming an actor. Like the other Club Kids, he too was an outsider and, being Colombian by birth, was likely the subject of far more prejudice than his white counterparts.

Melendez, however, seemed to have been disliked by some of the other Club Kids, seen as a 'wannabe', feelings possibly linked to his Latino heritage. Reporter Frank Owen in his book Clubland claims that "a pronounced streak of racism ran through the Club Kid scene," a sentiment author Yamil Avivi further explored in his paper Remembering Andre ‘Angel’ Melendez: Rave Subculture’s Contested/conflicted Memory of a Racially Motivated Murder.

Unfortunately, many articles covering Melendez's death dismiss him as simply a 'drug dealer'. Melendez purportedly worked as a dealer (reporter Frank Owen claiming to have purchased ketamine from Melendez for a Village Voice cover story) and was said by Alig to have been one of a number paid to attend events at the

Limelight club.

Following Angel

Melendez's murder on 17 March 1996, the police were originally reluctant to investigate despite the pleas of his father and brother, Johnny. In the years since, Melendez's name, while never forgotten, has become almost a footnote in the story of the

Club Kids, overshadowed by that of his killer, Michael Alig. Yet Angel Melendez deserves to be recognised as a Club Kid of his own, and the horrific circumstances of his death duly remembered.