JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man who committed one of the city’s most notorious murders when he was 14 years old has voluntarily withdrawn his application for a sentence review hearing, stating he wants to better address rehabilitation concerns raised by a state expert before returning to court.
Joshua Phillips, now in his early 40s, filed the notice of withdrawal May 6.
He was convicted of killing his 8-year-old neighbor Maddie Clifton in November 1998.
Why Phillips withdrew
In a handwritten statement addressed to the Honorable Judge Salem and included in the court filing, Phillips described his reasoning for stepping back from the process.
“Upon filing my application for sentence review and returning to Duval County for these proceedings, my family and I were excited as well as nervous,” Phillips wrote. “I was quite confident, and still am, that upon release I would live a productive and meaningful life absolutely free of any fears of a return to incarceration.”
However, Phillips said his confidence shifted after reviewing a report written by the state’s expert witness, Dr. Gregory Prichard.
“This became more clear to me after interviews with various experts since returning to Jacksonville, most especially so after reading the report written by the state’s expert witness, Dr. Gregory Prichard,” he wrote.
Read the motion below:
According to Phillips, Prichard’s report identified several areas of concern related to his rehabilitation, including a lack of professional counseling regarding the crime and his childhood, early exposure to pornography, general identity issues, sexual identity, and drug addiction that developed after his incarceration.
Phillips acknowledged attempting to enroll in Department of Corrections programs to address some of those issues but said he was turned away.
“I did attempt to do some of the Department of Corrections’ programs for some of these issues but was refused due to my status as a ‘lifer,’” he wrote. “I was told in very clear terms that it was not allowed.”
He said he instead pursued self-directed study on those subjects.
“However, after reading Dr. Prichard’s report it became clear to me that although self-educating on the topics mentioned above is laudable, it is not a substitute to true professional counseling and therapy,” Phillips wrote.
Phillips stated his intent to resubmit his application after addressing the concerns outlined in Prichard’s report. Per the filing, the sentencing court retains original jurisdiction for the duration of his sentence for the purpose of a future sentence review hearing.
“Armed with the information now at my disposal I have no doubts that after this withdrawal of my application and subsequent return to prison that I will be able to address and assuage every concern mentioned by Dr. Prichard in his report,” he wrote.
Phillips also included an apology to the family of his victim.
“As always I wish to convey my deepest apologies to Maddie’s Family for the reopening of wounds that any legal action in my case surely causes,” he wrote.
In June of last year, the family of Maddie Clifton spoke up about the sentence review for her killer.
“Maddie didn’t get a second chance. She didn’t get to grow up, graduate, fall in love, or have a family of her own. Maddie’s sentence was final. Her killer’s should be, too,” Jessie Clifton, Maddie’s older sister, said.
Phillips was 14 years old when he hit Maddie repeatedly with a baseball bat, slit her throat and hid her body in the frame of his water bed. Police, family and strangers searched for Maddie for a week.
Clifton said she would testify at Phillips’ sentence review and would read a victim impact statement.
“This time, I’m really going to sit down and I’m going to take my time and I’m going to write something that’s, that’s going to hopefully make him feel... I mean, I guess that’s not the goal, really, to make him feel bad. That’s not my intention. But I want him to see how bad I’m hurting and that I don’t really care that he’s hurting or wants to get out of jail. So, my hurt is forever. His should be also,” Clifton said.
Press play below to watch the full interview with Jessie Clifton
In a statement to News4JAX, Clifton’s mother, Sheila DeLongis, said Phillips “knew what he was doing” when he killed Maddie.
“Maddie didn’t get a second chance. She didn’t get to grow up, graduate, fall in love, or have a family of her own. Maddie’s sentence was final. Her killer’s should be, too,” DeLongis wrote.
Maddie’s murder left Northeast Florida stunned.
Tom Hackney was a patrol sergeant during the search for Maddie. He said he spoke with Phillips the day before Maddie was found -- in the very bedroom where she was hidden.
Hackney called the interaction “chilling.”
“He was cool as a cucumber. He was absolutely not shocked. Our engagement with him was actually in the bedroom where she was recovered, and he sat on the bed, petting his dog, and just was as unemotional, unaffected by law enforcement being in his house. It’s chilling, thinking about it now,” Hackney said.
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A year after the crime, Phillips was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In 2017, Phillips was resentenced following a 2012 Supreme Court ruling that found mandatory life sentences for juveniles unconstitutional. Despite the resentencing, Phillips received another life sentence, with the possibility of review after 25 years.
Phillips told police Maddie’s death started as an accident, but escalated to murder because he was afraid of his abusive father. As part of a sentencing review, his attorneys will try to make their case.
“He knew how badly she was hurt, and he could have gotten help twice, and she was still alive. And that to me, I just, I can’t see past child brain, adult brain, alien brain. I don’t, I don’t care. I truly do not. I think you know right from wrong,” Clifton said.