A Missouri teacher who allegedly sexually assaulted a then-7-year-old student is accused of recently hiring a hitman to kill the now-10-year-old victim to prevent him from testifying against him.
Deonte Taylor, 36, and his boyfriend, Michael Johnson, 66, pleaded not guilty last week to multiple charges stemming from a reported 2015 incident involving Taylor and a Lusher Elementary School student. Taylor became a fifth-grade teacher at Walnut Grove Elementary School before he was arrested in November of last year, according to KSDK.
A teacher’s aide at the time, Taylor—who reportedly has HIV—had taken the student out of class and had the student perform oral sex on him in another room.
The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said the victim immediately reported the sex assault, but the detective working the case left the department amid the investigation. A police spokesperson told the news station that they reconvened their investigation after the victim reported the crime a second time.
KSNV reported that Taylor was arrested last year after authorities found his DNA matched samples found on the then-7-year-old student.
Taylor was incarcerated for the three sodomy charges in February. He met another inmate in jail and allegedly conspired with him to kill the 10-year-old boy and his mother once the inmate was released from prison. Taylor reportedly convinced Johnson to pay the inmate to carry out the slayings.
Instead of killing the pair, the inmate reportedly became a police informant.
Johnson and Taylor, still facing sodomy charges, were also charged with conspiracy to commit murder and witness tampering. They remain jailed without bond.
[Featured image: Deonte Taylor/Handout]
