Jury Finds Slade Guilty of Murdering Woman, Burying Her in Backyard

State Attorney Melissa Nelson announces that a Duval County jury found Nathaniel Slade guilty of Second-Degree Murder. With the verdict, Slade faces up to life in Florida State Prison. The Honorable Jonathan Sacks will sentence Slade at a later date.

On April 20, 2022, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office responded to a West 9^th Street home in reference to the homeowner finding a trash can buried in his backyard. The homeowner told dispatch that he heard rumors Slade — his former tenant — killed a woman and buried her in the backyard. Officers unearthed the trash can and confirmed there were human remains inside. The victim’s son last saw his mother in the beginning of February, and she did not respond to his birthday messages at the end of February. Shortly after, the son received odd text messages from his mother’s cell phone number asking him for money. Officers interviewed Slade’s girlfriend who confessed Slade stabbed the victim in the chest inside the home and forced her to help him clean up evidence of the crime. The autopsy results and crime scene investigation corroborated her information. The victim had been Slade’s former supervisor at work and was trying to help Slade’s girlfriend get out of an abusive relationship with him at the time of her murder.

Slade is currently serving a life sentence for Attempted First-Degree Murder, Armed Burglary, and Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon in an unrelated case. Slade pleaded guilty to the court Jan. 8, 2024, on all charges and was sentenced for those crimes on Feb. 15, 2024.

The case was investigated by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Brooke Milo and Annie Maguire.