JOSHUA EARL PHILLIPS | Only 14 Years Old When He Killed Maddie Clifton (8) | killed Maddie to stop her from crying after she was accidentally struck with a baseball while they were playing, and that he feared punishment from his abusive father | ALS

Joshua Phillips. ALS. Commercial #10 (4.125” x 9.5”) envelope. Pmk: no date. SEALED. Content unknown. Pristine.

Murder

According to Phillips (hereinafter referred to as “Josh”), on November 3, 1998, he was home alone when Maddie Clifton, who lived across the road from the Josh, came to his house asking him to come outside and play baseball. Josh agreed, even though he was not allowed to have friends over while his parents were not home. As the two were playing baseball, Josh accidentally hit the ball into Maddie's eye, causing her to bleed, cry, and scream. Josh panicked, knowing his father Steve would be home soon and fearing his reaction. Josh dragged Maddie into his house, saying that the clothing came off Maddie's lower body as he did so. He hit her with the baseball bat to stop her from screaming before putting her under the base of his bed. When Steve returned home, Josh interacted with him for a period of time before returning to his room. When Josh discovered that Maddie was still alive and moaning under his bed, he removed the mattress, cut her throat, and stabbed her in the chest seven times with the knife from a Leatherman tool, killing her.

Maddie's disappearance was reported around 5:00 pm that day. Police and volunteers searched for Maddie for six days; Josh participated in the search. He later stated he spent the following week living in denial, saying, "I was putting myself in a fantasy world that nothing had happened. That was my defense mechanism for everything when I was a kid. I never made the decision ... to ignore it. I just did."

On November 10, Melissa Josh went into her son's room and noticed a wet spot on the floor. She searched the room and found Maddie's body, immediately leaving the house to report the incident to the police. Josh was arrested later that day at his school, and confessed to the murder within hours.

Prosecutors disputed some parts of Josh's story. State Attorney Harry Shorstein suggested the murder may have been sexually motivated, saying that Josh had talked about sexual matters with both Maddie and her older sister. The autopsy found no evidence of sexual assault, though prosecutors argued the lack of dirt and sand on Maddie's body did not support Josh's assertion that her clothes came off as he dragged her into his room. Prosecutors also noted that no blood was found in the backyard, or on the baseball that Josh said had struck Maddie, and argued that this did not support his version of events.

Phillips was tried as an adult. Jurors took just over two hours to convict Phillips of first-degree murder. He was later sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He was not eligible for the death penalty as he was under 16.

In 2012, the SCOTUS case of Miller v. Alabama ruled that sentencing juveniles to mandatory life in prison without parole is unconstitutional. In November 2015,Josh's attorneys were considering Miller v. Alabama as a basis to file a re-sentencing hearing. In September 2016, Josh's attorneys successfully appealed the court, and he was granted a new sentencing hearing, which was held in June 2017. At the hearing, Maddies's mother requested that his sentence be upheld. In November 2017, Josh was re-sentenced to life in prison, but is eligible for re-sentencing again in 2023. In December 2019, the Florida First District Court of Appeal upheld the life sentence, saying it will be reviewed again and could be modified in 2023 "based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation." Josh subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court of Florida, who turned down his request in June 2020.ⁱ

• VIDEO: The Most TWISTED Case You've Ever Heard – Documentary | https://youtu.be/EbpIm-tm-UY
• VIDEO: The Tragic Case of Maddie Clifton | https://youtu.be/IBylypP6KcY
• VIDEO: Josh Phillips | https://youtu.be/DTMUq0ezpCU

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