Photo: Nassau County Sheriff's Office
Sheriff's deputies in Florida threw a cake and ice cream party last week to celebrate not a birthday, not a retirement, but the transfer of a convicted killer out of their county.
The Nassau County Sheriff's Office posted photos of a cake, a tub of Neopolitan ice cream, and employees enjoying a slice Friday afternoon (January 28). Sheriff Bill Leeper told First Coast News it was an "Incarceration Relocation Celebration" to celebrate the transfer of Kimberly Kessler from their jail.
"Nassau County inmate Kimberly Kessler was transported this morning to the Florida Women’s Reception Center in Marion County to begin her life sentence without parole in the Florida Prison System," the sheriff's office wrote on Twitter. "For 3 ½ years she has been in NCSO’s care, custody and control."
Kessler was convicted for killing Joleen Cummings, a hairdresser and mother of three who went missing in May 2018. Her body was never found, according to reporters.
But those three and a half years weren't anything rosy for correctional officers. Sheriff Leeper claims Kessler has been causing trouble for Nassau County Jail staff during that time.
Jail officials told the court Kessler would regularly go nude and spread feces on the window of her observation cell. According to Leeper, staff says they're "are glad they no longer have to deal with her."
"The costs borne by the taxpayers of Nassau County for her custody since her arrest have been staggering," Leeper told reporters in an email. "A conservative estimate cost for her suicide watch, medical costs, transportation and food amounted to over $215,000."
Kessler was sentenced Thursday (January 27) but couldn't be present for the rest of the hearing due to multiple disruptions. First Coast News says she could be heard chanting "Jordan Beard is Joleen Cummings' cousin!"