JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man who committed one of the city’s most notorious murders when he was 14 years old appeared in court Tuesday to begin the process of having his life sentence reviewed.
The attorney for Joshua Phillips, 41, who killed his 8-year-old neighbor Maddie Clifton in November 1998, said he received discovery materials from the State and is going through the review process. He is hoping to complete his review by the end of the new year.
The hearing came about four months after Phillips appeared before a judge to have his life sentence reviewed. However, his attorney had requested to push back the hearing.
Back in June, the family of Maddie Clifton spoke up about the sentence review for her killer.
“Maddie didn’t get a second chance. She didn’t get to grow up, graduate, fall in love, or have a family of her own. Maddie’s sentence was final. Her killer’s should be, too,” Jessie Clifton, Maddie’s older sister, said.
Phillips was 14 years old when he hit Maddie repeatedly with a baseball bat, slit her throat and hid her body in the frame of his water bed. Police, family and strangers searched for Maddie for a week.
Clifton said she will testify at Phillips’ sentence review and will read a victim impact statement.
“This time, I’m really going to sit down and I’m going to take my time and I’m going to write something that’s, that’s going to hopefully make him feel... I mean, I guess that’s not the goal, really, to make him feel bad. That’s not my intention. But I want him to see how bad I’m hurting and that I don’t really care that he’s hurting or wants to get out of jail. So, my hurt is forever. His should be also,” Clifton said.
Press play below to watch the full interview with Jessie Clifton
In a statement to News4JAX, Clifton’s mother, Sheila DeLongis, said Phillips “knew what he was doing” when he killed Maddie.
“Maddie didn’t get a second chance. She didn’t get to grow up, graduate, fall in love, or have a family of her own. Maddie’s sentence was final. Her killer’s should be, too,” DeLongis wrote.
Maddie’s murder left Northeast Florida stunned.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney was a patrol sergeant during the search for Maddie. He said he spoke with Phillips the day before Maddie was found -- in the very bedroom where she was hidden.
Hackney called the interaction “chilling.”
“He was cool as a cucumber. He was absolutely not shocked. Our engagement with him was actually in the bedroom where she was recovered, and he sat on the bed, petting his dog, and just was as unemotional, unaffected by law enforcement being in his house. It’s chilling, thinking about it now,” Hackney said.
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A year after the crime, Phillips was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2017, Phillips was resentenced following a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that found mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional. Despite the resentencing, Phillips received another life sentence, with the possibility of review after 25 years.
Phillips told police Maddie’s death started as an accident, but escalated to murder because he was afraid of his abusive father. As part of a sentencing review, his attorneys will try to make their case.
“He knew how badly she was hurt, and he could have gotten help twice, and she was still alive. And that to me, I just, I can’t see past child brain, adult brain, alien brain. I don’t, I don’t care. I truly do not. I think you know right from wrong,” Clifton said.
Phillips is expected to go back to court on Dec. 16 for an update on where both sides stand regarding his sentence review.