Nicole Maks is a killer from Florida who would be convicted of the murder of Michael Cerasoli
According to court documents Nicole Maks believed that Michael Cerasoli was drugging her and then sexually assaulting her at night. Maks would attack Cerasoli with a hammer and stab the seventy nine year old man to death. Before fleeing the scene Maks would set the house on fire
Nicole Maks would be arrested as part of the investigation and when officers asked to take her DNA she asked for a drink. When officers gave her a can of Mountain Dew she would proceed to pour it over her head believing that the soda would mess up the test
Nicole Maks would be convicted of murder and sentenced to thirty five years in prison. Maks past which contains a ton of documented mental health issues was the main reason for the lesser prison sentence
Nicole Maks Case
A mentally ill woman accused of killing a man and later pouring Diet Mountain Dew on herself in an effort to interfere with DNA collection was sentenced Thursday to 35 years in prison.
Nichole Maks, 37, stabbed and beat Michael Cerasoli, 79, to death inside a Daytona Beach home on Clark Street, July 1, 2023, police said. She used a knife and a hammer to kill him. Maks then set the residence’s second floor on fire, according to police.
Nicole Maks pleaded no contest to second-degree murder, arson of a dwelling, evidence tampering and resisting with violence, according to the terms of the plea agreement.
She had been indicted on a charge of first-degree murder which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison upon conviction. Circuit Judge Leah Case adjudicated her guilty of the charges. Maks received 562 days credit for time served in the Volusia County Branch Jail.
The 35-year sentence was the least amount of prison time she could receive, according to the terms of a plea agreement in which she faced a maximum sentence of 75 years.
Assistant Public Defenders Jessica Lindsey Roberts and Larry Avallone represented Nicole Maks. In her closing argument, Roberts cited the sexual abuse and sex trafficking Maks suffered throughout her lifetime dating back to when she was a teenager.
Roberts said many people had betrayed Maks and then her own mind betrayed her, which lead to the killing.
The judge cited the abuse, which was partially supported by documentation, when sentencing Maks to the minimum under the plea agreement.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that she murdered somebody,” Case said.
She said Nicole Maks took actions during and after the murder that made it clear she was not insane at the time.
“She knew what she was doing,” Case said.
“I do feel like but for her mental health this would not have happened and her traumatic upbringing,” Case said. “The abuse that she has suffered at the hands of (like the prosecutor said) most males she’s ever come in contact has been horrendous.”
Case praised both the prosecutor and defense attorney on the negotiated plea agreement saying the minimum sentence was “high enough.”
Case also sentenced Nicole Maks to 20 years’ probation and ordered that she follow any prescribed mental health treatment.
Assistant State Attorney Mark Interlicchio did not ask for a specific time in prison, leaving the decision to the judge without making an argument. He also cited the abuse she had suffered and said he was disgusted by the actions that some people admitted doing against Maks during depositions.
Diet Mountain Dew used in attempt to thwart police
During her arrest, police officers told Maks they were going to take DNA samples from her. Maks then requested a drink and was given a can of Diet Mountain Dew, a report stated.
She started pouring the soda over her head and hair in an attempt to interfere with the collection of evidence, a report stated.
A psychiatrist, Dr. Jeffrey Danziger, testified for the defense saying that he diagnosed Maks with schizoaffective disorder bipolar type and post-traumatic stress disorder. He said both disorders were unrelated to her abusing alcohol and cannabis but the drugs worsened the situation.
Danziger testified that in interviews with Nicole Maks, she said she had been sexually abused as a teenager and later sex trafficked, being sexually abused by both her pimp and customers.
Danziger said Maks explained she had been part of a motorcycle gang where she was considered the gang’s property. She was ordered what to do at the risk of being beaten and sometimes sexually violated by multiple members, he said.
He said at the time of the murder, Maks was delusional and believed that Cerasoli had been using chloroform to drug her at night and then raping her at the direction of the motorcycle gang.
Neither the defense nor the prosecutor identified the motorcycle gang.
Maks had not taken her medication for six months and was hearing voices telling her that motorcycle gang members were spying on her and that she was at risk of being killed, Danziger said. He said the voices were telling her to kill Cerasoli.
An older sister testified and recounted horrific abuse she saw in a video she said she received in 2021 or 2022 of Maks being tied up and tortured, including sexually. She was screaming and crying and in distress. The sender of the video was not identified.
Family members also described her as a “fantastic” person and “very hardworking” when on her medication and protective of her loved ones.
After her sentencing, tearful family members were allowed to hug Maks across the bar in the courtroom before she was led out of the courtroom. She also ordered that she undergo psychiatric treatment.
Nicole Maks Now
| DC Number: | U72637 |
|---|---|
| Name: | MAKS, NICHOLE |
| Race: | WHITE |
| Sex: | FEMALE |
| Birth Date: | 12/01/1987 |
| Initial Receipt Date: | 03/12/2025 |
| Current Facility: | HOMESTEAD C.I. |
| Current Custody: | CLOSE |
| Current Release Date: | 06/23/2058 |
