Jury finds three men guilty in 2017 murder of Christin Cassels in Hawthorne
Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Keneth Altidor, 45; Blake Carrington Jackson, 30; and Nikenson Perin, 38, have been found guilty by a jury of murder charges connected to the 2017 murder of 23-year-old Hawthorne resident Christin Cassels.
Perin was found guilty of first-degree murder and trespass, and he has been sentenced to life in prison. Altidor and Jackson were each found guilty of second-degree murder, and they will be sentenced at a later date.
On April 21, 2017, the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a shooting in the area of 78150 SE U.S. Hwy 301 in Hawthorne and found the victim, Christin Cassels, suffering from a gunshot wound. Cassels was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel.
Detectives conducted a lengthy forensic investigation on cellular devices and Google data and identified the three men as suspects.
The investigation led to the arrests of Jackson and Altidor in July 2024 with assistance from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office. Altidor was arrested on July 15, 2024, in Fort Lauderdale, and Jackson was arrested on July 16, 2024, in Hallandale Beach. Both were subsequently held in Broward County pending extradition to Alachua County.
Perin was already serving a federal prison sentence in Seattle, Washington, when he was charged in Cassels’ death. He was later extradited to Alachua County to face the charges.
In a Facebook post, ASO wrote, “After nine long and agonizing years of pursuing justice for Cassels’ senseless murder, her family, friends, and our ASO detectives were in the courtroom as the verdict of ‘guilty’ was read to all three defendants.”
Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott said, “A parent should never have to face the horror of burying their child, but for Ms. Brenda and her family, that was a reality after this senseless act of pure evil back in 2017 took Christin from them. Thanks to the incredible work of our detectives and the sheer determination of both Detective Jeremy York and Detective Chris Weitzel, the Cassels family can now have a small amount of peace, knowing that her daughter’s killers have finally been held accountable for their unspeakable crime. There are more families just like the Cassels who are waiting on answers and we will work as long as it takes to ensure that every family gets justice.”