Santa Monica Physical Trainer Maurice Taylor Charged with Decapitating Two Children, Abuse of Two More

A Lancaster father of four has been charged with decapitating his teenage son and daughter and abusing his other two boys last week, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. Taylor allegedly held two younger children hostage, 8 and 9 years of age, after decapitating his 12 and 13 year old children. Their mother appears to also have been present in the home.

"Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 34 faces two felony counts each of murder and child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death."

Taylor worked at a physical therapy center in Santa Monica. Recently, his work had been conducted on Zoom due to the worldwide pandemic. Speaking on FoxLA, a physical training client of Taylor's in Santa Monica, described Taylor as "Kind, a bit quiet. A concerned father, the kind of guy you didn't mind being with or talking to. You know, a nice guy."

He is listed on their website as a physical trainer for VERT Fitness and Physical Therapy on Wilshire Blvd. "We have a new trainer at Vert, Maurice Taylor. I invite everyone to come by for a trail session," tweeted VERT Physical Therapy & Fitness @vert_fit on December 20, 2011.

"Maurice has been involved in the fitness industry since 2004 and has remained a certified personal trainer with the ACSM since 2006," said the VERT website, which has now been scrubbed of any mention of Taylor.

"He has almost a decade of experience working with a diverse range of individuals and personal trainers, specializing in many issues ranging from weight management to athletic performance."

Arraignment was scheduled yesterday but continued to December 21 in Department A01 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Antelope Valley Branch.

Taylor is charged with fatally stabbing Maliaka T., 13, and Maurice T., 12, on November 29. The defendant's other two boys, ages 8 and 9 were allegedly shown their murdered siblings and were forced to stay in their bedrooms for several days without food, the prosecutors said.

If convicted as charged, Taylor faces a possible maximum sentence of more than 57 years to life in state prison.

The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Lancaster Station.