Benjamin Taylor: Man arrested in connection with murder of missing girlfriend and her two children
Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A man accused of killing his girlfriend and her two children in North Carolina was arrested by California police near the US-Mexico border. Notably, the trio had been missing for over a week.
Benjamin Joseph Taylor, 35, faces charges of three counts of murder and one count of concealing death.
The victims are identified as 22-year-old Markayla Johnson, 4-year-old Miracle Johnson, and 7-month-old Messiah Johnson as LawCrime reported.
What did Police Chief report?
Markayala Johnson and her two children were reported missing on March 8 after losing contact with their family.
They were last spotted in the vicinity of the 400 block of Orchard Trace Lane in Charlotte.
During a search in the area around 1:45 pm on Friday, officers made a grim discovery of three bodies in an apartment and subsequently identified the trio.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Johnny Jennings expressed during a press conference on Saturday, “This is difficult for me as a police chief, Nothing is worse than homicides of small children and family members that we are seeing and talking about here today. We’re doing everything that we can to make sure that we bring closure for the family and also bring justice to the person responsible for these murders."
During press conference, Jennings notably refrained from identifying Taylor as a suspect but mentioned that police had designated him as a person of interest.
Jennings indicated that they suspected Taylor might be in the Carolinas but clarified that a nationwide search was underway.
While Taylor and Johnson were involved in a relationship, Taylor was not the father of the children.
Jennings opted not to disclose the cause of death or provide a motive for the killings.
Benjamin Taylor killed children to eliminate witnesses
One reporter questioned whether Taylor might have murdered Johnson and her two children to remove potential eyewitnesses.
In response, Jennings stated, “Well, I’m not sure how much a 7-month-old can be a witness, but at the same time, I don’t want to speculate about the reasoning behind any of these murders.”
He added, “It’s too early to tell and those are some things that he might be the only one that can answer those questions for us.”
The method by which authorities located Taylor in California remains unclear, but a press release acknowledged the assistance of the Imperial County Sheriff's Office and the local FBI field office.
Taylor is currently held in Imperial County Jail awaiting extradition to North Carolina.
Markayla Johnson’s family is devastated
The Johnson family is profoundly saddened by the loss of their loved ones.
Markeysha Johnson, the mother of Johnson claimed, “I just want to say, I miss my baby.”
She added, "I miss my grandkids. She was a good person and everybody knows Kayla would do anything for you. She didn’t deserve this. She did not deserve this. She was such a loving person. Everybody knew that."
