The Lancaster, Calif., couple Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr. (39) and Natalie Sumiko Brothwell (49) were sentenced on Feb. 2 to two consecutive life terms without parole plus six years after being convicted in November of murdering their two children on Nov. 29, 2020. Prosecutors say the pair stabbed and decapitated 13-year-old Maliaka and 12-year-old Maurice Jr., and forced their younger brothers, then 8 and 9, to view the bodies while depriving them of food. The children’s deaths were discovered after a reported gas leak, and a 10-year protective order was issued for the surviving children.
California Couple Sentenced to Life After Conviction in Brutal Murders of Two Children
From Left: Natalie Sumiko Brothwell and Maurice Jewel TaylorPima County Sheriff's Department; Law&Crime Network/Youtube
A Los Angeles–area couple, Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr., 39, and Natalie Sumiko Brothwell, 49, of Lancaster, Calif., were sentenced on Feb. 2 to two consecutive terms of life without the possibility of parole plus an additional six-year term after being convicted of killing two of their children.
Prosecutors say the pair stabbed and decapitated their daughter, Maliaka, 13, and son, Maurice Jr., 12, inside the family home on Nov. 29, 2020. The defendants were found guilty in November of two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and two counts of child abuse.
Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr.Law&Crime Network/Youtube
According to prosecutors and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Taylor and Brothwell forced the victims’ younger brothers, then aged 8 and 9, to look at the bodies and left the surviving children confined to bedrooms without food for several days. The children’s deaths were discovered after the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to a reported gas leak at the residence.
"This was a monstrous act of cruelty that shattered an entire family," said Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman after the conviction. "Two innocent children were brutally murdered, and their young brothers were left to live through unimaginable horror."
At sentencing, the court also issued a 10-year protective order for the surviving children. Brothwell maintained her innocence at trial, telling the court she "did not murder my children" and that she tried to save them; family members have likewise disputed the couple’s guilt. The judge, however, said there was no evidence of "genuine remorse" from the defendants, calling their responses "silence where accountability should be."
Natalie BrothwellPima County Sheriff's Department
The case drew widespread attention for the severity of the crimes and the impact on the surviving children. People magazine and multiple local outlets reported on the conviction and sentencing; representatives for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office were contacted for comment.
Image and reporting credits: Pima County Sheriff's Department; Law&Crime Network/YouTube (as noted in earlier coverage).
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