JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville man indicted in the murder of a Baldwin mother entered a not guilty plea when he appeared in court Thursday morning.
Dennis Mixon, 59, sat in a wheelchair as he was arraigned on first-degree murder and second-degree arson charges in the stabbing death of Nikki Redden. He will face the death penalty if convicted.
Investigators said Redden's body was found lying on the side of a dead-end road in a Baldwin industrial complex in May 2016. Little information has been released about the case.
The victim's sister, Kim Redden, was among those who showed up to Thursday's hearing. She said the family is supportive of the state's plans to seek the death penalty.
Redden described her sister as a good person with a happy-go-lucky personality who is sorely missed, especially by the two daughters she left behind.
"That's what I wake up with every day. Knowing court dates that I... I need to be Nikki's voice. That's what my job is to do, to speak for her," Redden said.
Redden said her sister's death devastated the family, but they're holding out hope that justice will be served in the case.
"She was a great sister, she was a wonderful mother and, most of all, she was my dad's daughter," said Redden. "She was the baby of seven of us."
Mixon, who has been serving a seven-year sentence for car theft and other charges, was transferred from a Florida prison back to the Duval County jail last month.
According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Mixon has been in and out of prison 11 different times over the past 40 years.
He is scheduled to return to court for a pre-trial hearing May 24.
