The parents of a 12-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl who were found decapitated at the family’s home in Lancaster are scheduled to be sentenced Monday for murdering the two children more than five years ago.
Jurors on Nov. 17 found Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 39, and Natalie Sumiko Brothwell, now 49, guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the Nov. 29, 2020, stabbings and decapitations of their 12-year-old son, Maurice, and 13-year-old daughter, Maliaka.
The panel also found true the special-circumstance allegation of multiple murders, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Taylor and Brothwell were also convicted of two counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death, according to the DA’s Office — which noted that prosecutors had proven the couple forced their younger sons, who were then ages 8 and 9, to view their siblings’ bodies and to remain confined in their bedrooms without food for several days.
The defendants are facing life prison terms without the possibility of parole when they’re sentenced Monday at the Lancaster courthouse.
The victims’ bodies were still inside the family’s home in the 45000 block of Century Circle when authorities arrived five days after the killings, officials said.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said soon afterward that the county fire department had received a call about a possible gas leak and immediately notified deputies after finding the two children dead inside the home. Authorities said two adults — one male and one female — were found at the location, along with the other two children.
“This was a monstrous act of cruelty that shattered an entire family,” District Attorney Nathan Hochman said in the aftermath of the November convictions.
“Two innocent children were brutally murdered, and their young brothers were left to live through unimaginable horror. The jury’s verdict delivers justice for these victims and sends a powerful message: Those who commit such evil acts will be held fully accountable.”
Back in 2020, some of Taylor’s clients from a Santa Monica physical therapy and fitness center had contacted authorities to check on the family after becoming concerned that he did not send out a Zoom link for a scheduled session during the COVID-19 pandemic and that he could not be reached, the Los Angeles Times reported soon after the children’s bodies were discovered.
Taylor has remained behind bars since he was arrested Dec. 4, 2020, by the sheriff’s department.
Criminal proceedings against Taylor were temporarily suspended after a doubt was declared about his mental competency, but were subsequently reinstated.
Brothwell was taken into custody in Tucson, Arizona, in September 2021 and returned to Los Angeles County the following month. She has also remained behind bars since then, jail records show.