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Logan Mott Pleads Not Guilty In His Grandmother's Murder

News4Jax
Logan Mott at his first Duval County appearance on murder and car theft charges. Public Defender Carlie Cofer appeared with Mott.

A Neptune Beach teen pleaded not guilty Monday morning to a murder charge in the shooting and stabbing death of his grandmother.

Logan Mott, 15, stands accused of killing , concealing Kristina French's body in a shallow Neptune Beach grave and driving her car to the Canadian border.

Both of Mott's parents were in court Monday, where a Jan. 25 pre-trial hearing was scheduled in the case.

Police said Mott repeatedly stabbed and shot French, 53, then buried her in his yard before leaving town in her Dodge Dart last month.

French was looking after Mott while his father was on vacation. The pair was reported missing Nov. 22 after Mott's father returned to find his home ransacked and empty.

Eric Mott, the teen's father and a Jacksonville Sheriff's corrections officer, reported several guns, including his service weapons, were taken from the home.

Days later, police disclosed they had found a body, later identified as French, buried in the home's backyard. The younger Mott was captured that night by border agents near Buffalo, New York.

Prosecutors said three firearms -- including two service weapons that belong to Mott's father -- and a bloody knife were found inside French's car when her grandson was arrested.

Mott was initially charged only with stealing French's car. Then a judge signed an arrest warrant Nov. 28 charging the teen with murder in his grandmother's death.

Currently, Mott is being held in isolation, housed in a 90-square-foot cell at the Duval County jail, where his father holds the rank of lieutenant.

Mott, an insulin-dependent diabetic, is allowed one hour of recreation daily, but authorities said he does that alone.

Carrie Campbell-Mott, Mott's mother who lives in Missouri, has expressed concern over how her son is being treated by the Sheriff's Office.