Nickerson indicted for murder Tuesday
Frencheise Nickerson was indicted for murder Tuesday morning in connection with the Sept. 3 slaying of 28-year-old Pine Hill resident Kalion Gladney.
Nickerson, 39, of Pine Hill is believed to have shot Gladney multiple times while the victim sat in his vehicle outside the 4 Way Stop convenience store located at the intersection of U.S. Hwy 43 and Alabama Hwy 10 in Dixon’s Mills. The incident occurred Sept. 3 at approximately 1 a.m.
“He was arrested and charged with murder. He has been indicted now for murder. I think he will be arraigned some time in mid December and then it will go on the criminal docket for trial. Hopefully by either the second term of next year or the last term of 2013, we can get it resolved, if not before,” District Attorney Greg Griggers said of the case. “I’m very confident that the evidence we have in this case will prevail.”
The case is one of two outstanding murder cases in Marengo County. The other is the case of Phillip Rogers, who is facing Capitol Murder and Kidnapping I charges following the Oct. 11, 2010 death of 46-year-old Sweet Water resident Paula Winters, whose body was found in the Tombigbee River between Nanafalia and Lavaca. Rogers, 30, of Sweet Water is awaiting trial while the prosecution in the case attempts to work past hurdles involving the victim’s DNA, the original sample of which was compromised as a result of the time her body spent in the water.
“I, quite frankly, don’t understand it. I know that her body had been in the water for a period of time, but I’ve never had that compromise DNA before. I don’t really know that there was an excuse for it, but, nonetheless, it did. So, what we had to do was come back behind that and provide forensics with what we hope is another DNA reference standard from our victim from some other items that we were able to collect and submit. If they were able to generate another genetic profile from those items for our victim, then the comparison is going to be totally different,” Griggers explained. “We’re just waiting to get these issues resolved before we go to trial.”