Teen girl who shot at deputies reaches plea deal; gets 20 years in prison

Nicole Jackson-Maldonado, the 15-year-old girl who shot at deputies after running away from a children's home, reached a plea deal Friday that will send her to state prison for 20 years.

It was a very different sentence from her co-defendant, a 12-year-old boy who could be released from a juvenile facility within three years. However, in a release sent following the announcement, the State Attorney's Office said Jackson-Maldonado was the "primary shooter" and "ringleader" that night.

Jackson-Maldonado stood before Circuit Judge Elizabeth Blackburn Friday at the S. James Foxman Justice Center in Daytona Beach as Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood and several deputies sat in the gallery.

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Jackson-Maldonado was sentenced to 20 years in state prison followed by 40 years of probation; that has been the offer from prosecutors for months and they did not budge.

Jackson-Maldonado received credit for 607 days in the county jail.

Jackson-Maldonado appeared to be confused at times during the hearing. After the judge pronounced her sentence based on the plea agreement, she asked the judge if she would be released on Jan. 27. Apparently, she meant Jan. 27 more than a decade from now, but it was unclear.

The judge told her the Department of Corrections would calculate her gain time and determine her exact release date.

Judge Blackburn entered an order allowing her to see a mental health counselor.

Jackson-Maldonado answered "yes ma'am" to many of the judge's questions.

Blackburn went through a standard list of questions and warnings to people entering a plea. She told Jackson-Maldonado that if she was not a U.S. citizen she could be deported.

"Am I a U.S. citizen?" Jackson-Maldonado asked.

After a few moments, Jackson-Maldonado said, "All I know was I was born in Puerto Rico."

The judge said that answered the question. People born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens.

"Will I be thrown in prison with everybody else or will I be placed in juvenile?" Jackson-Maldonado asked.

The judge said the Department of Corrections will place her in a facility based on her age.

"It is my understanding that the Department of Corrections is still bound by the laws that require juveniles to be kept separately," Blackburn said. "You will be in an adult facility."

The judge asked Assistant Public Defender Larry Avallone about the prison housing for the teen, but his response was inaudible in the gallery. Avallone has not responded to an email from The News-Journal about the question.

A few times during the hearing, Jackson-Maldonado looked down toward her juvenile public defender who was sitting to her right.

The night of the shootout with Volusia County deputies

Jackson-Maldonado was 14 when she and the 12-year-old boy made national and international news after running away from the Florida United Methodist Children’s Home in Enterprise on June 1, 2021, breaking into a house, arming themselves with guns and shooting at responding deputies, according to charging affidavits. The two found the guns in the house.

Deputies initially held their fire, but shot Jackson-Maldonado when she came out of the house with a gun. Jackson-Maldonado was shot six times, including a grazing wound. No deputies were injured in the shootout.

Jackson-Maldonado faced a life prison sentence if convicted of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer (firearm), although, because she is a juvenile, the sentence would be reviewed after 25 years, at which point a judge could release her.

She also faced up to life in prison on the charge of burglary of a dwelling while armed. She was also charged with criminal mischief causing damage of $1,000 or more, a third-degree felony.

The plea deal amended the attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer (firearm) to attempted first-degree murder (firearm). Prosecutors also waived a minimum mandatory of 20 years in prison.

Jackson-Maldonado pleaded no contest to the attempted first-degree murder with a firearm, burglary of a dwelling while armed and criminal mischief of $1,000 or more. She was adjudicated guilty.

The plea deal also took care of Jackson-Maldonado's cases in Flagler County where she was charged with five third-degree felonies in the burning of some wooded lots. She pleaded no contest to those charges and was also adjudicated guilty.

Different punishments for each offender

Jackson-Maldonado's case was treated differently than the boy's.

Prosecutors kept the 12-year-old boy’s case in juvenile court and resolved it last year with a plea bargain that could free him within three years from a juvenile facility. But prosecutors have kept Jackson-Maldonado's case in adult court and offered her a very different deal. The News-Journal is not naming the boy because he was tried as a juvenile.

Volusia County Sheriff's Sgt. Don Maxwell had to take cover behind a tree during the incident as the children fired from the house. Bullets hit the tree as he stood behind it.

Maxwell attended the boy's sentencing and told the child that he prayed for him and that he forgave him.

“I remember you. I forgive you. I challenge you to be better,” Maxwell said to the boy during the sentencing in March. “I want to see you one day be the person … the person that I know you can be. You have a big heart. You have a long life ahead of you. And I will say a prayer for you every day.”

Maxwell has appeared at two previous hearings for Jackson-Maldonado to show that the prosecution was ready for trial. Maxwell has declined to comment when asked by The News-Journal about the different treatment of the boy versus the girl.

The News-Journal asked Chitwood the same question on Friday and he said it was the State Attorney's decision.

During Friday's hearing, Assistant State Attorney Sarah Thomas checked to see if Maxwell or any other law enforcement officer present wanted to make a statement. They did not.

'She is a child'

Craig Trocino, a professor at the University of Miami School of Law who is not involved in the case, repeated in a phone interview Friday that Jackson-Maldonado's case should not be in adult court.

"It's sad. This is a child. Whether the state wants to create a fiction that, for the purposes of this crime, we are going to treat her as an adult. She is a child. That will not change," Trocino said. "I think there's a failure to recognize that. And she's a child that's desperately in need of services and didn't get them. And the state being intransigent in its offer in its ability to work this out and balance the idea of punishment with the services that this child so desperately needs wasn't happening and so it gets resolved in this way."

Both Jackson-Maldonado and the boy had previously been Baker Acted, in which a person is taken into custody for psychiatric evaluation if they are considered a threat to themselves or others.

Jackson-Maldonado has lived in group homes or at the Children’s Home in Enterprise. It’s unclear where her parents are. The teenager has a group of supporters who have become interested in her welfare after reading or watching media accounts of the case.

State Attorney R.J. Larizza's office did not respond to an email from The News-Journal about the different treatment of the two children.

Larizza's office issued a press release Friday afternoon that stated on the day of the incident, Jackson-Maldonado attacked a worker at the First United Methodist Children's Home and fled. She was followed by the boy, who was a non-criminal juvenile resident, the release stated. An employee of the children's home followed them, and Jackson-Maldonado attacked and threatened to kill that employee, according to the release. The release does not provide details of either attack.

The release stated that "forensic and eyewitness testimony identified Jackson-Maldonado as the primary shooter and ringleader of the criminal episode."

The release states that after numerous efforts to get Jackson-Maldonado to exit, she continued to fire.

"Ultimately, Jackson-Maldonado exited the residence and fired a shotgun at the deputies while approaching them. Deputies were forced to return fire," according to the release from Larizza's office.

The release states that deputies raced Jackson-Maldonado to an awaiting ambulance for medical care and states it was due to deputies' "heroic efforts" that no one died.

Trocino said the girl was in need of services and the state's claims that she was a ringleader, along with the other allegations, are further evidence that she needed help.

“The fact that they are claiming that she’s a ringleader is not by itself a justification to treat her so radically different than the other,” he said.

Judge closes hearing

Jackson-Maldonado was originally scheduled for a “Nelson hearing” on Friday concerning her request to dismiss her attorneys.

Judge Blackburn closed the hearing to the public, the media and prosecutors, citing an effort to protect Jackson-Maldonado's right to a fair trial. Blackburn said the motion to dismiss her attorneys would require discussing confidential issues, including trial strategy.

When the public, the media and the prosecutors were allowed back in, the judge said that Jackson-Maldonado had withdrawn her request to dismiss her attorneys. The judge also said that Jackson-Maldonado had on her own initiative stated she wanted to agree to the plea deal.

'We are not punching bags'

"You can't shoot at the police," Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said after the plea deal was announced. "You just can't do it. Somebody's got to stand up for law enforcement. We are not punching bags. It doesn't matter what the age is. This is a horrific event for all of us. Thank God my deputies went home. Within seconds of her being shot, deputies did life-saving first aid to save her life. And now here we are today, sadly she was sentenced. And I wish her all the luck in the world. My deputies went home. She now has to pay the price. And hopefully she'll get out of jail and be a productive member of society."

A News-Journal reporter mentioned the 12-year-old boy who also fired at police, but Chitwood did not respond.

When asked during the press conference whether her case should have remained in juvenile court, Chitwood said that was the State Attorney's decision.

"Those decisions from day one are the State Attorney's decision," Chitwood said. "We just wanted people held accountable. That's all we ask for. The state was fantastic with us, met with us, met with deputies, got their input when they went forward. The bottom line is you can't shoot at the cops."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Nicole Jackson-Maldonado sentenced to 20 years in prison