Woman learns fate after trying to cover up fatal stabbing with Diet Mountain Dew

A Florida woman who tried to cover up a fatal stabbing by pouring Diet Mountain Dew on herself has reached a settlement in the case.

Nichole Maks, 37, fatally stabbed her 79-year-old roommate Michael Cerasoli in their Daytona Beach home on July 12, 2023, before setting fire to the second floor of the house and fleeing the scene.

Police said they were alerted to the home by a concerned citizen and when they arrived they saw smoke coming from a second-floor window. according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

First responders subsequently found Cerasoli’s body on the second floor with blunt force trauma injuries to the head and stab wounds to his chest, and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police also found a bloody knife near his body, and a landlord later told officers that Maks lived with Cerasoli.

Investigators also claimed in an affidavit of probable cause that two cellphones were found in Cerasoli’s room — one belonging to him and the other belonging to Maks, who was not home at the time. WCHS reports.

A short time later, she was found at an intersection armed with a knife and a hammer, which police say she immediately dropped as officers approached.

Maks was not wearing shoes at the time and police noticed blood on her leg and saw that she was bleeding from her toe.

She then set fire to the second floor of the house before fleeing

Part of Maks’ shirt also appeared to have been cut or torn off, which investigators later determined also contained blood.

When police subsequently questioned Maks, they claimed she had changed her story about where she lived and that she had been homeless for about four years.

She also told police that she had been hospitalized earlier in the day after having a panic attack at a gym where she was running on a treadmill.

Maks denied seeing Cerasoli that day, but police say she later changed her story and said she had indeed seen him.

She ultimately refused to answer any more questions and asked for a lawyer.

Officers then told her they were going to take DNA samples, and she asked for a soft drink.

Friendly officers then handed her a can of Diet Mountain Dew.

But officers soon noticed she was taking her time with the drink, which they tried to take from her.

At that point, Maks poured the liquor over her head and hair in what police called an attempt to disrupt evidence collection.

Police have said she asked for a soda after officers told her they were going to take DNA samples, which she then poured on herself.

However, her efforts failed as investigators were able to determine that both her and Cerasoli’s blood matched that on the knife found next to his body.

In the aftermath, an attorney representing Maks tried to argue that she was unfit to stand trial, but mental health professionals found her competent to stand trial last December.

In November, Maks reached a plea deal in which she pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of first-degree murder, which is punishable by up to life in prison, as opposed to the first-degree murder charge, which carries a mandatory sentence. life imprisonment, reports the News-Journal.

She has also pleaded no contest to arson of a dwelling – a first-degree felony, and tampering with evidence and resisting arrest with violence, both third-degree felonies.

Maks will now spend the next 34 to 75 years behind bars, with Circuit Court Judge Leah Case set to rule on the sentence on February 27.