India, March 2 -- A 35-year-old Florida woman was sentenced to 35 years in prison for the shocking murder of her male roommate. Nichole Maks was found guilty of killing Michael Cerasoli, her 79-year-old roommate, back in July 2023. She was accused of beating and stabbing him to death, and trying to destroy evidence by setting their shared home on fire and dousing herself in Diet Mountain Dew in an attempt to remove his DNA.

Maks reached a plea agreement by November in which she pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of second-degree murder, as opposed to a first-degree murder charge for which one can get a mandatory life sentence. Further, she pleaded no contest to arson of a dwelling, which is a first-degree felony, as well as evidence ...