New state attorney brings peace to grieving mother

James Rhodes sentenced to life without parole for murder of Shelby Farah

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – By defeating a two-term incumbent in the 4th Judicial Circuit Republican primary, newly elected State Attorney Melissa Nelson had the power to give the grieving mother of Shelby Farah the ending she always wanted in her daughter's murder.

On Thursday, James Rhodes pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in the 20-year-old Metro PCS clerk's death. A judge accepted the plea, and Rhodes was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Shelby's mother Darlene Farah, who had openly opposed the death sentence, was in the the courtroom, along with Nelson, who approved the plea agreement that dropped the death penalty.

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Nelson wasted no time setting the record straight on why her office approve the plea deal with Rhodes. 

"It's my intent in those situations to always, regardless of whether we see eye to eye, treat victims with dignity and respect," Nelson said. "We deal with difficult decisions every day. And, honestly, this was not a difficult decision."

The 2013 execution-style murder of Shelby continued to make headlines for years, not only because of the brutality of the crime, but also due to the political firestorm that surrounded it.

Rhodes' murder trial had been delayed four times while Judge Tatiana Salvador awaited guidance from the state Supreme Court on challenges to the death penalty, which former State Attorney Angela Corey refused to drop, despite requests from Rhodes' public defender for a plea deal and repeated pleas from Shelby's mother.

Corey even talked about Shelby's family publicly during her 2016 campaign for re-election in an interview with Rich Jones on News 104.5 WOKV.

"We give their feelings great weight, and we have done that with the very vocal Darlene Farah, who appears to be more interested in publicity than actually grieving for her daughter," Corey said in the August interview.

Corey faced public backlash for the comments. Thursday, Nelson addressed the political feud head-on. 

"I was troubled that my predecessor had that the relationship between Darlene and her office had become so strained. It was important to me to make sure that, even if we disagree with Darlene, that she and her children felt that the office was respecting them in listening to them," Nelson said. 

After asking for closure for nearly four years, Farah said she finally got it. 

"I feel like Shelby can finally rest in peace now, " Farah said. "It's over. I don't have to go back in court to face the person that took her life away."