- Nikenson Perin was found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2017 killing of Christin Cassels and sentenced to life in prison.
- Blake Jackson and Keneth Altidor were convicted of second-degree murder and remain awaiting sentencing.
- The investigation spanned over seven years and utilized cellphone and geofencing data to identify suspects and lead to arrests in 2024.
Three men have been convicted in connection with the 2017 murder of 23-year-old Hawthorne resident Christin Cassels following a weeklong trial.
According to an Alachua County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) release sent Tuesday, Nikenson Perin was found guilty of first-degree murder and trespass and sentenced to life in prison. Blake Jackson and Keneth Altidor were each found guilty of second-degree murder and are awaiting sentencing.
Cassels was shot and killed in Hawthorne in 2017, prompting an investigation by ACSO detectives that spanned more than seven years and involved hundreds of hours of investigative work.
Investigators eventually identified Perin, Jackson and Altidor as suspects after analyzing newly developed cellphone and geofencing data.
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 July 15 in Fort Lauderdale, while Jackson was arrested July 16 in Hallandale Beach. Both were 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.
After nine years of pursuing justice for Cassels, her family, friends and ACSO detectives were in the courtroom when the guilty verdicts were read for all three defendants.
Alachua County Sheriff Chad Scott issued the following statement after the verdicts:
“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.”