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Mother arrested, charged in deaths of children who were decapitated in Lancaster

by City News Service • September 29, 2021

[Inset] Maliaka Taylor and Maurice Taylor Jr. were found dead in their Lancaster home on Dec. 4, 2020.  Their father, Maurice Taylor Sr. (bottom left) was charged on Dec. 8, 2020, with the murders; and their mother, Natalie Brothwell, was charged with the murders in September 2021. [Main image by BRYAN HALL]
LANCASTER – The mother of a 12-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl who were decapitated in Lancaster last year was arrested in Arizona this week in connection with their deaths, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department announced Wednesday.

Natalie Brothwell, 44, was taken into custody Tuesday at her home in Tucson, Arizona, on two counts each of murder and child endangerment, and will remain behind bars at the Pima County Jail pending extradition to California, according to the sheriff’s department. Sheriff’s officials did not release details about Brothwell’s role in the murders or why she wasn’t arrested sooner.

Natalie Brothwell [Pima County Sheriff Dept.]
The children’s father, Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., now 35, was arrested last Dec. 4 and was subsequently charged with two counts of murder involving his 12-year-old son, Maurice Jr., and 13-year-old daughter, Maliaka, along with two felony counts of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death involving his 8- and 9-year-old sons.

He is set to be arraigned Nov. 10 in a Lancaster courtroom.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that the two older children were decapitated and that the two younger boys were shown their slain siblings and forced to stay in their bedrooms for several days without food.

The victims were stabbed Nov. 29, 2020, and their bodies were still inside the family’s home in the 45000 block of Century Circle when authorities arrived five days later on Dec. 4, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s Deputy Eric Ortiz.

Taylor worked at a physical therapy center in Santa Monica, but had been conducting training sessions via Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of his clients contacted authorities when they could not reach him for scheduled appointments in the week leading up to the discovery of the children’s bodies.

Without naming Taylor, District Attorney George Gascón noted last December that a defendant charged in a “horrific case in Lancaster” could face “more than a half a century” behind bars if he’s convicted.

The murder charges against Taylor do not include special circumstance allegations that could have made him eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Taylor faces a potential state prison sentence of 57 years and four months to life if convicted as charged, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

It was not immediately clear whether Brothwell could face the same potential life prison sentence if she is convicted as charged.

The district attorney said last year he has heard about the “hue and cry” about how the filing decision may “somehow provide less safety for our community in the case.”

“What would be the utility to take somebody that is probably going to spend the rest of his life in prison to continue to add years and waste taxpayers’ money on additional litigation?” Gascón asked soon after being sworn into office.

Previous related stories:

Doubt about competency declared in Lancaster decapitation case

Father charged in decapitation of son, daughter in Lancaster

Two people dead in Lancaster; investigation underway [

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Filed Under: Crime/ Safety, Home, Lancaster

8 comments for "Mother arrested, charged in deaths of children who were decapitated in Lancaster"

  1. Rex Parris says

    November 13, 2021 at 6:22 am

    I wonder if the house sold with a decent discount. I should check if it’s still available.

  2. Monty says

    October 1, 2021 at 2:25 pm

    Kill em both. I’ll do it.

  3. Linda in Southern California says

    September 30, 2021 at 12:34 pm

    I don’t care if the father is “incompetent” or not. Innocent children were brutally killed and there is no doubt of at least one parent’s guilt. He does not deserve to live. The mother was in the house, clearly did not protect her murdered or surviving children, maybe even assisted in the abuse, torture, murdering. She maybe deserves capital punishment or maybe just life in prison. I don’t want to see taxpayers’ money wasted; further, take a life, lose a life (yours)! I say execute the father right now.

  4. Lisa says

    September 30, 2021 at 9:31 am

    Damb the mother looks terrifying and she looks like she has no remorse dumb bit h

    • Jon says

      October 4, 2021 at 5:44 am

      Why did it take so long to arrest mom if she was there during the killings?

      • Gozer says

        December 7, 2021 at 12:40 am

        My wild guess is that the husband covered for her and took all the blame, possibly as an agreement they made (they had a whole 5 days to discuss) so that she could stay with the other kids, as deluded as that may seem. Then it took this long for them to be able to appropriately interview the surviving young children about what went on, and they ratted her out.

  5. JT says

    September 30, 2021 at 6:30 am

    “What would be the utility to take somebody that is probably going to spend the rest of his life in prison to continue to add years and waste taxpayers’ money on additional litigation?” Gascón asked soon after being sworn into office.

    It’s called “punishment” and “deterrence.” Terms that Socialist liberals don’t seem to understand anymore.

  6. Arrest says

    September 30, 2021 at 12:42 am

    Slaincaster’s finest on display…

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