'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wAARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMH/8QAIRAAAgEEAQUBAAAAAAAAAAAAAQIFAAMEEQYUISJBUXH/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/8QAGBEBAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQACERL/2gAMAwEAAhEDEQA/AMw4PORUXBJIZKyF/O6ZsAoQhthWDj9I7g6+gVCzxrKuWbbo0YUZQQWx2B1r35UpQ+kshE4NRn//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Dateline reopened the case of Crystal Taylor, presenting one of Hawthorne, California's worst atrocities. Taylor, 27, was pregnant, and the victim of a premeditated act of violence in 2001. The crimes shocked the community.
As Dateline showed, this was not a random act of violence. A so-called murder-for-hire had been roped in by someone Crystal knew intimately. Prosecutors charged that her boyfriend, Derek Paul Smyer, was the culprit. He planned the murder after Taylor refused to have the pregnancy terminated.
Trending
This came at the end of a decades-long investigation, marked by trials and convictions that ultimately brought some measure of justice to Taylor's kin.
The crime
As shown on Dateline, Crystal Taylor was shot and murdered in front of her Hawthorne apartment complex on September 25, 2001. She was at the time between 21 to 22 weeks pregnant with a son whom she had named Jeremiah. The shooting was deemed intentional by several witnesses, and Taylor did not have the time to defend herself. Taylor's death was a premeditated contract murder rather than random, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office went on to say.
Subsequent investigations revealed that the unborn baby's father, Derek Paul Smyer, had hired one of his friends, Skyler Jefferson Moore, to carry out the task. Prosecutors believed that Smyer's motive in carrying out the act was his anger over Taylor's refusal to have an abortion. By hiring the killer, Smyer wanted to get rid of Taylor and also the unborn baby.
The investigation
As depicted on Dateline, the case failed to result in instant arrests. Years went by until the prosecutors had a critical mass of evidence needed to indict Moore and Smyer. The officials managed to get witness affidavits, testimonies, and other corroborating evidence that were suggestive of a murder-for-hire conspiracy. Smyer's insistence that Taylor go for an abortion became the prosecution's clincher argument.
Detectives then started probing if Smyer had displayed problematic behavior in previous relationships. While facts drawn from such inquiries were not necessary for the particular trial, the information made it clear just how seriously his actions were being taken by the authorities. Lastly, with proof that connected Smyer to Moore and to the crime itself, the two men were officially charged.
Court proceedings and convictions
According to Dateline, the trial was held in 2017, a little over 16 years after the killing. Derek Paul Smyer was convicted of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, conspiracy, and solicitation to murder in May 2017. He was also convicted of killing an unborn child. Prosecutors proved that there were personal and financial motives involved on Smyer's part, and that this resulted in the jurors convicting him of a special circumstance of financial gain, too.
Skyler Jefferson Moore, who had pulled the trigger, was convicted of two charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy. The jury found that the crime was a special circumstance murder under California law - a lying-in-wait murder. Moore's conviction exposed him to the death penalty, and there would be a penalty trial as well to decide whether Moore would be sentenced to death or life without parole.
Recognition of the unborn victim
Dateline highlighted that one of the points of interest in the case was how court made a declaration that Taylor's unborn child was a distinct victim. The unborn child was referred to as Jeremiah Johnson Taylor in court papers, and has triggered considerations on the legal front on how to approach unborn victims in criminal homicide cases. The court subsequently convicted Moore and Smyer of first-degree murder of Taylor and her unborn child, emphasizing the seriousness of the offense.
This aspect of the prosecution supported California law permitting murder charges, when a fetus is aborted under certain conditions. Charges in the case emphasized personal tragedy for Taylor's family, along with a more universal implication about violence towards pregnant women.
Family and community effect
Crystal Taylor's death was tragic to her family. Her sole surviving son, Javonte Woods, said that his mother was his best friend. The shock was irreversible for him, and his words had a heavy emotional impact.
The case also affected the community of Hawthorne in a big way. Violent crimes tend to leave an impact on entire communities that do not heal easily. In this case, the crime against woman was all the more shocking because the murder was premeditated. The fact that the criminals were prosecuted more than a decade later only served to compound the tragedy and the impact of the crime.
Why Dateline revisited the case
Dateline revisited Crystal Taylor's case in order to give a complete picture of what had occurred before she died, the extended investigation, and the final convictions. The programme always employs cases that portray the determination of the detectives involved, and the strength of victims' families. Crystal Taylor's case, as portrayed by the show, was no exception to this rule.
In dissecting all that happened in this 2001 murder case, Dateline drew national attention to a case that otherwise seemed destined to be forever lost in the twilight of time. The thorough reporting not only defined the facts, but also took back the viewers to the original incident and the tension associated with it, besides the brutality of domestic violence, and the importance of the pursuit of justice.
Crystal Taylor's is a tale of loss, justice, and a lesson for the future. As Dateline traced the investigation, trial, and subsequent convictions of Skyler Jefferson Moore and Derek Paul Smyer, the show highlighted how officials discovered a horrific crime that shocked everyone. Dateline's coverage of the Crystal Taylor murder is a reminder that persistence on the part of the investigators ultimately brought justice.
This case is a reminder of the deadly end that is often an outcome of befalls personal vendetta gone wrong. Dateline underlines the fact that Crystal Taylor's murder is a part of legal history now, and the gruesome details of the tragedy will never be forgotten.
Reply
