Mother of man falsely accused in Brittanee Drexel case speaks out after suspect arrested

The mother of a man who six years ago was identified as being involved in the disappearance and death of Chili teenager Brittanee Drexel — a link proven false by the recent arrest of another man — spoke emotionally at a May 19 press conference about the damage done by the erroneous claim.

Joan Taylor, whose son Timothy Da’Shaun Taylor was first named by a jailhouse informant, said her heart goes out to the Drexels.

“We understand the tragic loss of Brittanee, of her life, and it has changed her family forever,” she said tearfully from a lectern in McClellanville, South Carolina. “As a mother of three, I understand. It pains me to even think about losing a child.”

She said Timothy Taylor lost one of his arms in an accident at the age of 4, an event that required him to fight for his life. Thirteen years later, when he was connected to the Drexel case, “we were faced with the possibility of losing him again,” Taylor said. “The years-long fight against false accusations and the media frenzy have traumatized us, affecting every aspect of our lives. It publicly questioned, without reason, our family, our family’s character, and has shaken us to the core.”

The May 16 arrest of Raymond Moody, 62, who is charged with kidnapping, raping and killing Drexel, confirmed what the family knew all along, Taylor said: that her son was not involved.

On background: Remains of missing teen Brittanee Drexel found; man charged in death

Jailhouse informant was lying

Timothy Taylor's name surfaced in 2016 after officials announced they had a working theory of what happened to 17-year-old Brittanee, a Gates Chili High School junior who had traveled to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for spring break without the permission or knowledge of her parents.

At a June 2016 press conference, David Thomas, special agent in charge of the FBI in South Carolina, said investigators had concluded that Drexel was dead.

He also said they believed she had been taken to the McClellanville, which is about 60 miles southwest of Myrtle Beach.

“What we’ve come to discover through the course of this investigation is that Brittanee Drexel did leave the Myrtle Beach area,” Special Agent Thomas said. “We believe she traveled to the area around McClellanville, and we believe she was killed after that.”

Months later, court documents revealed that an informant, a South Carolina inmate named Taquan Brown, told investigators that Drexel was abducted, gang-raped, shot to death and thrown into an alligator-infested swamp near McClellanville.

Brown told investigators he went to a “stash house” where he saw Drexel being “sexually abused” and “pistol-whipped” when she tried to escape. He said he later heard two shots and assumed Drexel had been shot.

Now serving 25 years in prison for an unrelated manslaughter conviction, Brown claimed he saw Taylor “sexually abusing” the teenager.

Taylor was questioned by federal authorities about Drexel and failed a polygraph test in which he claimed to have never seen her. He grew upset and ended the examination when told the polygraph showed he was deceptive on questions about Drexel’s disappearance, court records show.

Taylor was the getaway driver in a 2011 robbery, and he pleaded guilty to the crime in state court. In 2016, federal prosecutors decided to charge Taylor in federal court for the crime — an unusual decision but one authorities acknowledged was partly motivated by a belief that Taylor had information on Drexel's disappearance.

The arrest of Moody, a convicted sex offender who emerged as a person of interest in the case in 2012, makes it clear that Brown was lying. (South Carolina television station WBTW reported that Moody allegedly confessed to the crime and led police to the location of Drexel's body in Georgetown County, about 35 miles south of Myrtle Beach.)

'Damage has been done'

Taylor maintained his innocence “in the face of relentless pursuit by local and federal law enforcement investigators and the media,” Joan Taylor said.

“Our family stood by him and consistently spoke out against the false accusations that too often are directed at people who look like us,” she said, referring to Black people. (It’s) “an age-old story in America.”

She said that although the public has now learned the truth, “the damage has been done.”

Her son’s name and face “will forever be linked to Brittanee Drexel because of a lie,” she said. Although Taylor was never charged in the case, a mug shot of him was widely circulated.

“That pain is beyond words," Joan Taylor said. "We’re not relieved. We’re enraged that it took this long. I’ve asked members of the media for years to refrain from naming Timothy in association with this case, but those stories were written and cannot be unwritten.”

She said that she expects her son, who was not at the press conference, to speak publicly at a future date.

“My sincere hope is that this never happens to another family,” Taylor said. “I call for law enforcement to halt the practice of disclosing unfounded leads and the names of potential suspects without credible evidence. Doing this has real life consequences and a lasting, disparaging effect on so many, particularly us, Black families. And we suffer the ramifications of being falsely accused far too long.”

This story includes reporting by Sean Lahman.

Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @MarciaGreenwood.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Brittanee Drexel: Mother of man falsely accused in death speaks out