Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor was recently cleared of any involvement in the 2009 disappearance of Brittanee Drexel after authorities arrested and charged Raymond Moody with her kidnapping, rape and murder.
The Taylor family held a press conference in McClellanville, South Carolina on Thursday where they told the media that their family’s suffering is far from over. Timothy Taylor was not in attendance.
“We are not relieved,” Joan Taylor, Timothy’s Taylor’s mother said at the press conference. “We are enraged it took this long. ... I call for law enforcement to halt the practice of disclosing unfounded leads and names of potential suspects without credible evidence. Doing this has real life consequences and a lasting effect on so many, particularly us Black families.”
The Taylor family, gathered around the Taylor mother as she spoke, comforted her with hugs as she grew emotional amid speaking about her son, “a disabled Black youth,” as she referred to him once during her statement. She later stated that Timothy had lost an arm as a child, causing him to “fight for his life.”
Some family members could be seen wearing shirts that said “Black Voters Matter” on them. Joan Taylor said, “My sincere hope is that this never happens to another family.”
In sharing condolences for the Drexel family, Joan Taylor said, “We are here today and our hearts do go out to the Drexel family. ... We understand the tragic loss of Brittanee, of her life, and it has changed her family forever. As a mother of three, I truly understand. It pains me to even think about losing a child.”
The Taylor family plans to address the public further.
“In the coming days, our family will have more to say. But for now this is our official statement,” Joan Taylor said in closing.
Falsely accused man’s named linked to Brittanee Drexel’s case
Moody confessed to the crimes, and helped lead investigators to Drexel’s remains in a wooded area on the outskirts of Georgetown County, according to the county sheriff’s office.
But Timothy Taylor and his family have been accused for years about his alleged involvement in the Drexel case.
Timothy Taylor was first named a person in interest in 2016 after the FBI released information related to a lead based on information from prison informants.
The informants had told authorities they had seen Timothy Taylor and others sexually abusing Drexel at a “stash house” in McClellanville days after she was reported missing.
Authorities had closed that lead a couple of years ago, according to an FBI spokesman, and 15th Judicial Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson recently told WPDE that the informants admitted they lied.
Timothy Taylor was subjected to federal charges in 2016 related to his involvement in a 2011 armed robbery that he had already served time for at the state level. An FBI agent admitted at the time that the federal charge was brought, in part, because they believed he was involved in Drexel’s disappearance.
A federal judge ended up sentencing Timothy Taylor in late 2019 to time served plus probation.
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