JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The video above is from previous, related coverage.
A man convicted of murdering his grandmother when he was 15 could face a longer prison sentence after he admitted to brewing alcohol behind bars.
Logan Mott, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for fatally stabbing his maternal grandmother Kristina French in 2017. He was in ninth grade at the time.
Mott, who said he was drunk when he committed the crime, was caught while attempting to cross the border into Canada. Police found French’s body buried in the backyard of her Neptune Beach home a few days later.
Mott’s sentence was well below the mandatory minimum of 25 years, and much lower than the 45 he potentially faced. It was part of a plea deal reached with the state. His attorneys introduced extensive mitigation at his sentencing hearing, including Mott's troubled childhood. His public defender also demonstrated that Mott was attempting to improve himself while in custody, reading voraciously, getting his high school diploma and working toward a bachelor of arts degree.
In sentencing him, Circuit Judge Bruce Anderson said, “Logan was traumatized by diabetes, parental discord, absence by his mother, bullying in school his father’s maltreatment and … [his girlfriend’s] rejection and public humiliation. …There was no plan to kill his grandmother. Killing his grandmother was an impulsive act. "
Logan was permitted to serve his sentence at Cypress Creek Juvenile Correctional Facility before moving to an adult prison at age 21. He turns 21 in August.
According to a violation report from that facility, a contraband search turned up six bottles of what they referred to as “hooch” – an alcohol the report said is made using fruit and other liquids. "When the ingredients rot, hooch is the result.”
Sentencing in the new case is set for Feb. 24.
