NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Three and a half years after a Yulee mother vanished, her coworker at a hair salon was convicted of killing her.
After just over an hour of deliberations, a jury found Kimberly Kessler guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Joleen Cummings Thursday. Kessler wasn't in the courtroom as the verdict was read, refusing to be present or even watch the trial.
"Shocked was my first initial response," Cummings' mother, Ann Johnson said. "Shocked, elated."
In the courtroom following the verdict, Johnson hugged family members, State Attorney Melissa Nelson and prosecutors, Donna Thurson and Ashley Terry as they congratulated her.
”We praise God that we got the verdict and that it gives us some type of closure. While my daughter Joleen has not been found, we have at least the verdict of the indictment of first-degree premeditated murder," Johnson said.
Prosecutors said because Cummings' body was never found, it was a challenge to prove the case, but the other evidence was overwhelming.
"It was a challenge," Thurson said. "It's unusual, but the Nassau County Sheriff's Office did a great job going back and going back and every time they learned something else they went back and continued to look for the evidence and they brought us the sufficient evidence for the jury to render a just verdict," she said.
Prosecutors argued Kessler used her hair-cutting scissors, which had Cummings' blood and DNA on them, to kill the 34-year-old mother.
"Considered, committed, concealed," prosecutor Ashley Terry said. "She thought she could get away with it. She had researched it, and then after it's done, she went back just to check again. No body, no crime, right," Terry said.
Prosecutors said Kessler's Internet searches before and after the incident told the story, and proved she planned the murder. A detective testified Kessler searched phrases like, "Joleen Cummings I have vanished," and "Joleen Cummings no body no crime."
Kessler's attorney agreed there had been a violent confrontation between the two women but argued it did not amount to premeditated murder.
“What the state did not offer and what we have absolutely no proof of and the questions that you need to decide in this case are who started it," defense attorney Thomas Townsend said. "Who was the aggressor in this fight," he said.
"Who was defending themselves," he said. "How did it end? There are no answers to those questions. You don’t get to fill in the blanks," Townsend said.
Townsend also argued the state couldn't prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the murder weapon was Kessler's scissors. He said they couldn't prove a motive either.
“What the motive is, where the body is, those types of things we may never know, but ultimately none of those things are needed to prove this woman did this," Terry said.
"She decided to do it. She went through with it, and then she tried to conceal it. That’s what happened. You will be left with questions. We are all left with questions. Those questions do not mean she did not do this. Those questions do not mean she is not guilty of this," Terry told the jury.
Johnson thanked the community for their prayers and thanked the attorneys, the jurors, and law enforcement after the verdict.
“We miss Joleen every second every second of the day, my family, our family the Cummings family, the children. Not a day goes by, but I really feel like Joleen is with us today. I feel like Joleen has been in that courtroom with us," Johnson said.
Johnson said she has one ask of Kessler.
"If you could find it within your heart to tell us where the remains of my daughter ... where are the remains of my daughter? Give us some closure. I’m asking you from one mother to another," she said.
The jury also found Kessler guilty of grand theft auto for stealing Cummings' car.
Kessler faces a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. Her sentencing hearing is set for Jan. 27.