Kimberly Kessler faces new felony charges for feces assault on Nassau corrections officers

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. — Kimberly Kessler, the woman accused of killing Nassau County mom Joleen Cummings, is facing two new felony charges after assaulting two corrections officers inside the Nassau County jail --with feces.

On Monday, deputies say Kessler refused requests from an officer to “stand up” as they tried to move Kessler to another cell while hers was sanitized.

Kessler stood up and stated, “Okay, we can do this today” and began removing her clothing. Deputies say Kessler then grabbed feces that she had been collecting in Styrofoam trays in the back of her jail cell and began smearing it on herself and the walls.

Kessler was eventually pepper sprayed twice, unsuccessfully, after deputies say she began throwing feces at two corrections officers. Kessler was then tased.

Kessler now faces two felony charges of battery against a law enforcement officer in addition to her 2018 murder charge.

Cummings has not been seen since May of 2018 after failing to pick up her children and is presumed dead, according to deputies. Kessler is the only suspect in the death and disappearance of her former co-worker at a Fernandina Beach hair salon.

Current evidence shows someone who appears to be Kessler on surveillance video at a Gate gas station dressed in all black the morning investigators said Cummings failed to pick up her children. Minutes before Kessler was seen at the gas station, surveillance cameras captured Cummings’ car driving nearby.

The crime scene reports show investigators found blood inside the salon where Cummings and Kessler worked. The documents also say crime scene technicians found bloodstains on the walls and furniture inside Tangles Hair Salon.

In 2019, Kessler’s jail roommate told investigators that Kessler claimed she had been kidnapped at 16 years old, according to the documents. The inmate told investigators that Kessler said her mother, or “Mommy dearest,” would sell her to men and that Kessler believed her mother made voodoo dolls with her hair to punish her. The documents also say that Kessler’s roommate said she observed Kessler get upset with another inmate, stand in the doorway of her cell, take her breasts in her hands and shake them, telling the other inmate to step into her cell.

Investigators say Kessler has had 18 different identities over the years.

Cummings’ body has never been found.

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