The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced it was continuing an investigation into the deaths last year of a 13-year-old girl and her 12-year-old brother in Lancaster.
Homicide investigators brought evidence to the attention of the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office that led prosecutors to charge 44-year-old Natalie Brothwell, mother of Maliaka Taylor and Maurice Taylor Jr., with two counts each of murder and felony child endangerment.
A warrant was issued for Brothwell’s arrest, and she was apprehended at her residence in Tucson, Arizona on Tuesday. As of Wednesday, she was being held in Pima County Jail pending an extradition order to California.
The children’s father, Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 34, was arrested last year on two felony counts each of murder and child abuse in connection with the deaths.
Taylor, a Los Angeles-area personal trainer, was charged with fatally stabbing Maliaka and Maurice and abusing two other children.
Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris said last year both children had been “decapitated” and described the murder scene as “brutal.”
Authorities made the gruesome discovery while responding to reports of a possible gas leak at a property where the family was residing at the 45000 block of Century Circle in Lancaster. Officers located the children’s bodies in separate bedrooms, bearing "lacerations" and stab wounds.
It is unknown what motivated the murders, though some of Taylor’s personal training clients told The Los Angeles Times last year that he had begun to exhibit unusual behavior in the week leading up to them.
He had reportedly missed several fitness sessions conducted over Zoom, despite being previously described as a “reliable” and punctual instructor.
Clients reportedly called police after multiple absences, concerned of a possible gas leak at Taylor’s home.
A client told The Times Taylor had a “contentious” relationship with Brothwell. Mayor Parris speculated the home environment to be “stressful” under pandemic stay-at-home conditions.
It was not disclosed by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department to what extent Brothwell was suspected to be involved in the children’s deaths. The investigation is ongoing and the department has declined to release additional information at this time.
