HANCOCK COUNTY — The victim and her mother sat together at the defense table. When the sentence against the defendant convicted of sex crimes against a minor was announced, the mother reached over with her left arm and firmly hugged her daughter, who hung her head in relief.
Hayden J. Nix, 21, Greenfield, was given the maximum sentence of seven years, all to be served in state prison. Significantly, Court Commissioner Cody Coombs tacked the sentence onto time Nix already is serving for other similar crimes.
Nix was convicted in the case in July.
In addition to the prison term, Nix will have to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life once he is released.
Nix was found guilty of two Level 5 felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor. He was given four years in prison for one count and three years for the other.
After hearing testimony from the victim, her mother, and probation officer Mary Kay Dobbs, Coombs called Nix “a danger to the community” before handing down his sentence for an incident that happened on Oct. 19, 2017.
During the victim impact statement, read before the sentencing, the girl, who was 14 at the time, accused Nix, who was 19 when the incident happened, of attacking her in a car one night after she had sneaked out to get a ride to a party.
“I have blamed myself for two years for what this monster did to me,” the victim said.
She also told the court after the incident she had “many times” thought of ending her life. “No 14-year-old girl should ever go through what I did,” she said.
The victim’s mother told the court Nix could never serve enough time to pay for what he did to her daughter.
“He violated her in a way that has affected her mentally, physically and emotionally,” the girl’s mother said.
Zaki Muhammad Ali, Nix’s attorney, asked Combs to sentence his client to five years in prison.
Ali told Combs if his client received the maximum sentence, it would do nothing to help Nix in the long run. However, during her final remarks, deputy prosecutor Catherine Wilson noted Nix had been given opportunity for rehabilitation when he experienced trouble has a juvenile.
“He’s calculating and manipulative,” Wilson said. “Seven years is not that long compared to what he took from this girl.”
Wilson also noted while the sentencing will not end the nightmare for the victim, she does hope it will help the girl heal and focus on herself.
“She said it best when she said she will not give another minute to this monster,” Wilson said.
Following the announcement of the sentence, Nix’s attorney said his client would appeal the sentence.
Nix has four criminal cases against him in the county. Three have now been settled, and one is still pending. All are stemming from incidents with girls in the fall of 2017.
In April, Nix was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he took a plea deal for an unrelated attack on a young woman in October 2017. Then, in May, a jury convicted him after a two-day trial of beating another girl. Nix received a 2½-year sentence to be served in the Hancock County Jail for that case.
Nix is also facing another rape and sexual misconduct case against a minor from another incident alleged to have occurred on Oct. 14, 2017. Charges in that case were filed in January of 2019, according to court records. A jury trial has been set for Oct. 28 in Hancock County Superior Court 1 under Judge Terry Snow.
Nix is facing a total of 22½ years for his crimes.
