CPS Fail Tennessee-Arianna Taylor case-Child Death

Arianna Taylor was 4 years old when she died on July 12, 2013. Her death has been ruled a homicide by blunt force trauma.

She was returned into her biological parents’ care six months ago after having spent the past three years under DCS care. The reason for her removal: head trauma.

Montgomery county sheriff gave the following press release  on August 6, 2013: “Arianna Taylor, age 4, was found dead in her home at 1460 Dotsonville Rd, lot 8, on July 12th, 2013.  An autopsy was performed by the State of Tennessee Medical Examiner’s Office.  The Medical Examiner determined that Arianna died as a result of multiple blunt force traumas, and ruled her death a homicide.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office began an investigation into Arianna’s death immediately.  This ongoing investigation, led by Inv. Julie Webb, has been very active, and has resulted in the indictment of Arianna’s parents, DeMarkus Taylor, and Rawny Alvarez Taylor.  The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has assisted in the investigation.

DeMarkus Taylor is charged with:

First Degree Felony Murder, Aggravated Child Abuse x’s 3, and False Reports. His bond is set at $250,000.

Rawny Taylor is charged with:

First Degree Felony Murder, Aggravated Child Abuse x’s 3, and False Reports. Her bond is set at $250,000.”

 Father’s Past

“This isn’t the first time DeMarkus Taylor has been charged with a violent crime. In May of this year, DeMarkus Taylor was charged with aggravated assault for allegedly choking and punching his sister-in-law, according to an arrest warrant.

And previously, in December of 2008, DeMarkus Taylor was charged with domestic assault for allegedly grabbing his mother by her neck and throwing her against a car, according to a separate arrest warrant.

Prosecutors dropped the domestic assault charges against DeMarkus Taylor in July of 2009, but the 28-year-old was set to go to trial for the aggravated assault charges this August.

A friendly girl

The Taylor family’s neighbors remember Arianna being a friendly 4-year-old, running around their Dotsonville Road trailer park with the other neighborhood kids.

“She would walk by with the other kids in the neighborhood,” said Carmen Weiler, who moved into a trailer two lots away three months ago. “She always smiled and waved as she walked by.”

“They picked dandelions out of the yard and tried to sell them to me,” Weiler said. “I thought it was so funny.”

Debby Goff, another neighbor in the trailer park, said she knew the family had a history with DCS.

“I knew they had their kids taken away previously, but I didn’t know what had happened,” Goff said. “I didn’t know them well. They came over sometime. They were private people. I never saw them fussing or fighting.”

History of disclosure

DCS has struggled to provide accurate information on the number of children who died, or nearly died, after having some contact with the agency, according to multiple reports in The Tennessean. The agency revised those numbers upwards at least five times since September.

The Tennessean and a coalition of media groups filed suit against the agency in December after DCS repeatedly declined to provide records of children who died in its care – ultimately winning the right to portions of each child’s file.”

Parents charged with felony murder after 4-year-old’s death in Montgomery County

[The Leaf Chronicle 8/7/13 by Lester Black and Tavia Green]

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