When parents fail to not only protect their own children but also are the ones causing them the most harm and pain, one can only hope they will be held responsible for the crimes they’ve committed. We hope the ones they’ve so miserably failed will one day receive some semblance of justice. On February 2, 2026, a husband and wife from Los Angeles County, California, were finally sentenced after being convicted of horrifically murdering their two eldest children while forcing their two youngest to look at the decapitated bodies. This is truly an unspeakable crime that undeniably shows the world its very worst.
After being found guilty of two felony counts of first-degree murder, along with two felony counts of child abuse in November 2025, married couple Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr. and his wife, Natalie Brothwell, were sentenced to serve two consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional six years in prison, per KTLA.
The Lancaster couple were found to have stabbed and decapitated their 13-year-old daughter, Maliaka, and their 12-year-old son, Maurice Jr., in their residence in November 2020, per People. Sadly, the brutality didn’t stop there, as the pair then forced the younger siblings, who were 8 and 9 years old at the time, to look at the bodies of their older siblings in their family home.
After Los Angeles County Fire Department crews were dispatched to the home, located in the 45000 block of Century Circle, for reports of a gas leak due to neighbors complaining of a “foul odor,” the two younger children were found by authorities in separate bedrooms days after the murders, according to KTLA.
The bodies remained in the home for five days before authorities were called to the house and found the younger siblings confined in separate rooms without food for days, Fox 11 reported.
“This was a monstrous act of cruelty that shattered an entire family. Two innocent children were brutally murdered, and their young brothers were left to live through unimaginable horror,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman shared in a statement, per ABC 7.
Brothwell gave an “emotional statement” in court in which she “maintained her innocence,” but the judge found no evidence of “genuine remorse” and stated that the pair practiced “silence where accountability should be,” ABC 7 reported.
Hopefully the remaining siblings and the rest of this family can finally find some peace.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
