A California father of four has been charged with murder for allegedly decapitating his 12-year-old son and his 13-year-old daughter while his two younger boys were forced to view their dead siblings’ bodies.
Authorities charged Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 34, a personal trainer, on Tuesday with two counts of murder in connection with the deaths of Maurice Taylor Jr, 12, and Malaka Taylor, 13, City News Service reported.
Taylor Sr. was also charged with two felony counts of child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death in connection with his eight and nine-year-old sons.
Prosecutors say the two older children had been decapitated while the two younger children were forced to look at the bodies and forced to stay in their bedrooms for days without being fed.
Authorities arrived last Friday at 7:50 a.m. to discover the bodies inside the family’s home, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Eric Ortiz.
Homicide detectives questioned the wife and two younger children before arresting the father shortly before 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Taylor worked at a Santa Monica physical therapy center but had been conducting most of his sessions over Zoom due to the pandemic.
Some of his clients told the Los Angeles Times that they reached out to the authorities out of concern when they could not reach him for scheduled appointments in the week before the victims were discovered.
Taylor Sr. is being held on $4.2 million bail while he awaits his arraignment on December 21 at the Lancaster Courthouse.
If convicted of the charges, Taylor Sr. could face 57 years and four months to life in state prison, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Friends have set up a GoFundMe page to help the family, which has raised more than $1,900 as of Thursday afternoon.