Brandon Aydelott, the former Gulf Breeze High School student who was diagnosed with schizophrenia after he confessed to brutally killing his mother in 2013 as a teenager, is headed to a less restrictive mental health treatment facility in Tallahassee after a Santa Rosa County judge approved the move.
However, Aydelott can’t move again without court approval and he must submit to weekly drug tests.
This is Aydelott’s second move since the Florida Department of Children and Families determined in 2024 that he no longer met the criteria for involuntary commitment at Florida State Hospital.
Aydelott spent 11 years at Florida State Hospital after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity in 2016 for stabbing, beating and stomping Sharon Aydelott to death in the doorway of her Gulf Breeze home on Christmas Eve 2013.
He claimed voices told him to kill his mother, his little sister and people with brown eyes. He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia.
Aydelott, 29, is now at the Apalachee Center, a secure step-down facility in Quincy, and staff there say he is ready to transition to a different, less restrictive facility they operate in Tallahassee.
He appeared via Zoom at the hearing on Jan. 21 alongside his Forensic Case Manager Vincent Rich.
Rich told the court that staff recommended the modification because Aydelott has been compliant with medication and has not had any behavioral issues.
A similar request to move him to a less restrictive facility was denied at his last hearing in July 2025.
Judge Clifton Drake denied it because the state prosecutor showed Aydelott was not following the rules at the Apalachee Center’s group home facility in Gadsden County where he had been caught with a marijuana vape pen.
That is considered contraband for some mental health patients because they take a variety of medications, including anti-psychotic meds, and he could have an adverse reaction.
Rich said Aydelott is “doing well” now and they believe he is ready for a move to “Building G” at their Leon County campus, which offers slightly more freedom of movement outdoors compared to the Gadsden facility, though some residents still require staff permission and check-ins.
“We’ve seen progression,” Rich said. “He’s one of our great clients here. I know he got Client-of-the Month since he’s been here. You know, he’s just a joy to have on the unit, so that’s why we’re in favor of him moving to Leon County.”
Rich said medication and therapy would continue at the new campus, with a new case manager providing monthly reports.
Prosecution pushes against move
Assistant State Attorney Mark Alderman argued against the move, saying that granting Aydelott more freedom is preemptive because he has the same concerns he had last year when Aydelott tested positive for marijuana, contraband he obtained through a vape pen.
“It may seem something that is not significant, but I think someone with his history and what he did, deviating from his medication taking or self-medicating is incredibly dangerous,” Alderman said. “I’m glad that he did not test positive last six months. It’s a step in the right direction, but that test positive still concerns me.”
Alderman said he is also concerned about the Apalachee Center’s “nonchalant” reaction to Aydelott’s positive marijuana test.
“Considering that facility is locked 24/7, it does not give me great faith about the facility in Leon County, which is not locked and residents are able to come and go,” Alderman said. “I have concerns as to both the center there and Mr. Aydelott staying on his medication and not taking anything else.”
Aydelott’s aunt and Sharon’s sister, Pam Hill, also spoke at his competency hearing against the move.
She has attended every one of his competency hearings since 2016. They’re typically held every six months to evaluate his progress.
Brandon admitted he killed his mother because she sent him to a drug rehabilitation facility two weeks before he attacked her after he tested positive for drugs in an over-the-counter test and his behavior had been growing progressively worse and more violent for months.
Hill said there’s no reason to believe he wouldn’t make the same mistakes with drugs again.
She told the court she has little faith in the professionalism of staff at the Apalachee Center after his hearing last July where she said Aydelott and Rich were “giggling” and smiling while she talked about the horror of what happened to her sister and the devastating impact it had on their entire family.
“The trauma, revictimization, humiliation and disrespect displayed while we are right here in the courtroom is especially indicative of how defiant Brandon is. I fail to see what is so funny and hilarious,” Hill said. “He has zero remorse and says he felt like he did the right thing. He is a very dangerous man. If he did this to his mother, who he loved more than anybody could imagine, what would he do to anybody else that simply frustrated him?”
Bradon Aydelott’s father, sister want him “out”
Brandon Aydelott’s father, Randy Aydelott and his sister Elizabeth spoke to the court in support of his move to a less restrictive facility.
They both said they visit and speak to him regularly and he is making good progress.
They believe he is no longer the “same person” he was when he killed Sharon and is more like the Brandon they knew “before what happened.”
“All I want is to have my brother back home one day and for my daughter, my dad and I to be able to do fun things and hang out with my brother and make memories with him,” said Elizabeth, who is now 21 years old.
She was 10 years old at the time Brandon killed their mother, and their parents had divorced a couple of years earlier after a sexting scandal involving Randy Aydelott and a 14-year-old female student he taught at Pensacola High School in 2010 that cost him his job as a coach and teacher.
Randy Aydelott told the court his son was under “pressure” when he killed his mother, but that he is better now after classes and therapy.
“He had a psychotic break due to the pressure that he was under at that time,” Randy said. “Brandon would never have done what he did if it hadn’t been for the psychotic break. He has a recovery plan that helps him to recognize and understand what he did. It also helps him to realize if something isn’t right and he knows what to do.”
Judge recognizes ‘very difficult situation’
Drake agreed to the move because he said Aydelott has been showing progress and has not violated any rules since the hearing last summer.
However, he ordered him to undergo weekly drug tests considering his history and urged him to comply with his medication and treatment team’s recommendations.
He also said Aydelott could not move to any other buildings on the campus without his permission.
The judge told the families he recognized that it was a “very difficult situation” since his mother and father’s families did not agree on his level of confinement, but that due to him being found not guilty by reason of insanity the goal is to eventually release him into the community when, and if, he is deemed ready.
“I will not hesitate to make a decision that I view to be in the best interest of the safety of the community, so be very careful to follow all recommendations,” Drake told Aydelott.
“Thank you for the opportunity,” Aydelott replied.
His next competency hearing is scheduled for Oct. 21.
Editor’s note: Reporter Mollye Barrows independently co-hosts a true crime podcast with Pam Hill, who is quoted in this story.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Killer to ‘client-of-the-month,’ Brandon Aydelott allowed more freedom
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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