A deranged personal trainer — who worked with local residents at Vert on Wilshire Boulevard — has been charged with decapitating two of his four young children.
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, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
He is scheduled to be arraigned December 21.
Taylor is charged with fatally stabbing his 13-year-old son and 12-year-old daughter on November 29 in Lancaster.
His 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, prosecutors said.
Taylor worked at the physical therapy center located at 3011 Wilshire Boulevard, but had been conducting training sessions online during the pandemic.
Some of his clients contacted authorities after he failed to show up for scheduled appointments, leading to the discovery of the victims, CBS Los Angeles reported.
Taylor is being held in lieu of $4.2 million bail.
If convicted as charged, he faces a possible maximum sentence of more than 57 years to life in state prison.
