OBITUARIES / PASSINGS / Frank Melton

Frank Melton, 60, the mayor of Jackson, Miss., died early Thursday, less than two days after losing a reelection bid in a contentious Democratic primary that came a week before his second federal trial.

The mayor, who had a history of serious heart problems, was taken to a hospital from his home by ambulance Tuesday night, shortly after the polls closed.

Unofficial results show Melton, who was elected mayor in a landslide in 2005, came in fourth out of nine candidates.

Next week, a second trial was set to start for Melton and a former bodyguard, who each faced two federal civil rights charges related to an Aug. 26, 2006, sledgehammer attack on a duplex that Melton considered a crack house.

A judge declared a mistrial in the first case in February after a jury failed to reach a verdict. Melton and the bodyguard, Jackson Police Officer Michael Recio, were both acquitted in April 2007 on state charges related to the raid.

A native of Houston, Melton came to Mississippi in the 1980s to run NBC affiliate WLBT-TV. He soon made a name for himself with an opinion piece called “The Bottom Line,” in which he called out criminals and verbally attacked city officials he considered ineffective.