Prosecutors in Miller County have formally charged a man accused of stabbing his girlfriend to death in a Texarkana, Ark., before burying her remains in a shallow grave in Ogden, Ark.
Tony Earl Taylor, 57, faces charges of first degree murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence in the March 6 death of 35-year-old Crystal Reed. According to a probable cause affidavit, Taylor allegedly stabbed Reed to death at the Smith Keys Apartments, attempted to clean the crime scene and then buried the body in a shallow grave on a hunting lease in Ogden, Ark.
Reed’s mother reported her missing March 6 when her daughter failed to report for work and calls to her cell phone went unanswered. The following day Taylor confessed to the killing in an interview with Texarkana, Ark., detectives and led them to the secluded, makeshift grave. Crime scene investigators unearthed an industrial sized trash bag which was later determined to contain human remains. The body was sent for autopsy to the state’s crime lab in Little Rock.
At his initial court appearance in March, Taylor told the judge, “it all happened so fast.” Bail is set at $750,000. Murder is punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison. Abuse of a corpse is punishable by three to ten years and a fine up to $10,000. Tampering with physical evidence is punishable by up to six years in prison and a fine up to $10,000.
Taylor is expected to appear for arraignment on the charges this month. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Carlton Jones.
