California Dad Arrested For Allegedly Decapitating Two Children

A Lancaster, Calif., man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after two of his children were found decapitated in his home.

Maurice Taylor, 34, was arrested Friday in connection with the death of his 12-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter.

Los Angeles County fire department responded to reports of a gas leak at a home in Century Circle on Friday morning and found two decapitated bodies. They immediately informed the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The children had lacerations and stab wounds, the department said in a news release. The exact time of the deaths was not revealed.

Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris described the scene as "pretty brutal."

Taylor, his wife and two other children, who were uninjured, were present in the house at the time. The children were taken to the hospital as a precaution. The mother was taken into custody for questioning but was not arrested.

Deputies confirmed that the deaths of the children were not related to the gas leak. The bodies of the two children were found in two bedrooms. "It doesn't seem to be that the cause of death from the two people inside have anything to do with a gas leak," said Lt. Brandon Dean, of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, reported ABC7.

Taylor is a personal fitness trainer. His clients describe him as a "mellow" and "reliable" person. Some of his clients grew concerned when Taylor did not show up for his online fitness sessions, reported LA Times.

"We were concerned about a possible gas leak. There were four children and two adults and we were concerned about their safety," said Howard Kern, one of Taylor's clients who called the fire department.

Another client, who was unnamed, said she knew something was not right this week when Taylor failed to send out the Zoom links for the scheduled fitness sessions. She also said he was not reachable on phone.

She then contacted the Sheriff's department on Tuesday and also informed the property management company running Taylor's residence. "We were afraid of carbon monoxide poisoning, or they were all dead from falling asleep," she added.

Kern, who was attending the fitness sessions for the past seven years, described Taylor as the "nicest person" who worked hard to support himself. He said he felt Taylor was living under "tremendous pressure" and was having some issues with his wife. "It was embarrassing, you could hear her [Taylor's wife] yelling at him. He'd be very apologetic and she'd be yelling at him."

Parris said the pandemic has resulted in stressful situations. "What I'm seeing is more and more people feeling desperate, and that can only have one result," he said.

Taylor has been held on a bail of $2 million.