DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA: A 35-year-old woman has been arrested more than a month after she fatally stabbed her 79-year-old roommate, who was found in a burning Daytona Beach home on July 01.
Nichole Maks was arrested on Saturday, August 05, and was later charged with one count of first-degree murder, one count of tampering with evidence, and one count of resisting arrest with violence in the brutal stabbing death of Michael Cerasoli.
How did Michael Cerasoli die?
Cerasoli was found dead on July 1 when firefighters were called to a residence at 622 Clark Street at around 1.45 am, according to a Daytona Beach police report. Upon their arrival, the firefighters found smoke coming out of a second-floor window.
Firefighters entered the residence through an unlocked front door and found burning clothes at the top of the stairs. Then, they went to search the smoke-filled second-story bedroom of the house, where they found Cerasoli laying on the ground.
Cerasoli was found responsive, so the firefighters brought him downstairs to be checked out by a paramedic who pronounced him dead at around 1.50 am. Cerasoli suffered blunt force trauma to the back of his head and even had multiple stab wounds to his torso. When police arrived on the scene, they found two smartphones and a bloody knife next to the victim's body.
Who is Nichole Maks?
Deputies then questioned the landlord who revealed that Cerasoli was living with a middle-aged woman. The woman was later identified to be Maks. Not much has been revealed about Maks but her state of birth was listed as Michigan, according to New Journal.
Police put out a bulletin stating that Maks was a person of interest in the investigation. A few days later, authorities found a shoeless Maks walking near a restaurant at Ridgewood and Mason avenues.
Police said that the suspect had no shoes on, was bleeding from a toe, and was clutching a knife and a hammer. When asked where she resided, Maks allegedly lied for a while before eventually revealing that she had been living on the streets for the last four years.
Authorities then showed her a picture of Cerasoli but she denied knowing him. When questioned about whether she knew him, she allegedly admitted that she had lived with him for a brief period of time but claimed to have only "seen him a handful of times."
Why did Maks pour Mountain Dew on her body?
After a while, Maks changed her story, confessing to authorities that she was not homeless and lived with Cerasoli before his murder. Due to her inconsistent statements about the victim, Maks was taken into custody.
During a post-arrest interview, Maks allegedly denied entering the victim's room but admitted to occasionally going to the second story of the house to "feed her spiders."
A short while later, she was informed by the police that they would be taking a sample of her DNA. She didn’t answer the police’s questions but instead requested a Diet Mountain Dew.
“Maks began to procrastinate while drinking the soft drink then when [a detective] attempted to grab the can of soda from Maks’ hands. Maks began to resist and began pouring the can of soda all over her body and hair and pulling away from officers in attempt to interfere with the possible evidence on Maks’ body. Maks then began pulling and kicking officers," the arrest affidavit stated, as per Law & Crime.
"Due to Maks’ actions, she was charged with tampering with evidence and resisting arrest with violence,” the affidavit concluded.
Deputies later confirmed that the DNA from the blood on the knife discovered next to the victim matched that from Maks. She is currently held without bond and will make her first court appearance on September 5.
