A mother and father were found guilty of murdering their son and daughter in their California home. Maurice Jewel Taylor Sr. and Natalie Sumiko Brothwell killed their 13-year-old daughter, Maliaka, and their 12-year-old son, Maurice Jr. They stabbed the children and ripped off their heads, authorities said, and made their two youngest sons look at the bodies. The younger children, aged 8 and 9, were locked up in their bedrooms.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said the surviving children were left without food or water for several days. The incident happened in November 2020 and was described by District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman as a “monstrous act of cruelty that shattered an entire family”. He said: “Two innocent children were brutally murdered, and their young brothers were left to live through unimaginable horror.

“The jury’s verdict delivers justice for these victims and sends a powerful message: Those who commit such evil acts will be held fully accountable.”

The bodies of the murdered children were found after firefighters responded to a gas leak at the house, as neighbours reported a strong smell coming from the home. It was when clients of the father, as well as his personal trainer, went to his house to check on him, as they hadn’t heard from him in a few days, that authorities were called over the gas smell.

Lancaster Mayor Rex Parris said that the COVID pandemic and the subsequent shutdowns could have contributed to the crime, citing the stressful environment likely created in homes due to the worsening economy, schools being closed and public spaces being shut down.

The mother and father were found guilty of two felony counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances and two felony counts of child abuse this month. They face life in prison and are expected to be sentenced on January 13, 2026.

District Attorney Hochman stated: “This prosecution would not have been possible but for the tremendous efforts of Deputy District Attorneys Alexander Lara and Kirsten Brown of the Sex Crimes Division, who, along with investigators from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Lancaster Station, pieced this gruesome case together and presented it compellingly to the jury.”