Since New York’s death penalty is unconstitutional, I am happy that at least Dante Taylor will not get to keep his life since he was found dead on October 7, 2017. Do not forget the victim, Sarah Goode.
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Dante Taylor at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on July 29, 2016, when he was sentenced to life without parole for killing Sarah Goode. Photo Credit: James Carbone |
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"There is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose this morning but that God's hand has held you up." - Jonathan Edwards |
Sarah Goode’s killer dead
Story By: STAFF WRITER
10/19/2017
Dante Taylor, the Mastic man who was convicted of the murder of Sarah Goode, died in an upstate New York hospital on Oct. 7. Taylor, 22, was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole. He was serving that sentence at the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo. According to the NYS Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, he was pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m. at a local hospital in Erie County. Official cause of death will be determined and released by the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office. He had been serving his sentence at the time of his death. “As with all unattended deaths, DOCCS’ Office of Special Investigations has an ongoing investigation into the death of this inmate and the department cannot comment further,” said a corrections and community supervision spokesperson. A post on a Facebook page set up in memory of Goode read, “The monster who so violently ended Sarah’s young life will no longer breathe another breath, will no longer see another day, will no longer have the privilege of living a life — something he made certain she could not do. Sarah’s beauty is eternal. Her laugh is unforgettable. Her memories are carved in the hearts of all whom she met.” Taylor was convicted in June 2016 of first-degree murder of Goode, 21, who was stabbed more than 40 times on June 7, 2014.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.longislandadvance.net/4868/Sarah-Goodes-killer-dead
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Sarah Patricia Goode (December 29, 1992 to June 7, 2014) |
Dante Taylor, convicted killer, dies in prison, officials say
Dante Taylor, the Mastic man who was convicted of murder in the fatal stabbing of Sarah Goode, has died in an upstate New York prison, officials confirmed. Taylor was sentenced last year to life without parole for Goode's murder.
By Nicole Fuller and Andrew Smith nicole.fuller@newsday.com,
Dante Taylor, the Mastic man serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of a young Medford mother, died Saturday in an upstate New York hospital, officials confirmed Monday.
Taylor, 22, was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole for the 2014 stabbing death of Sarah Goode, 21.
The ex-Marine was pronounced dead at 11:51 a.m. Saturday at a hospital in Erie County, said an official with the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. He had been serving his sentence at the Wende Correctional Facility near Buffalo.
The cause of death will be determined by the medical examiner, the official said.
The correction department’s office of special investigations has opened a probe into how Taylor died, the official said. The office investigates all prison deaths. The official declined to provide the circumstances of Taylor’s death or any preliminary cause-of-death findings, citing the ongoing investigation.
A post on a Facebook page set up by Goode’s family read in part, “The monster who so violently ended Sarah’s young life will no longer breathe another breath, will no longer see another day, will no longer have the privilege of living a life — something he made certain she could not do. Sarah’s beauty is eternal. Her laugh is unforgettable. Her memories are carved in the hearts of all whom she met.”
Taylor was convicted in June 2016 of first-degree murder. Goode was stabbed more than 40 times early on June 7, 2014.
Prosecutors said Taylor met Goode at a party earlier in the evening and then met her again later closer to her Medford home. They say that after she apparently resisted his advances, he raped and killed her and left her body in the woods.
Her abandoned, blood-soaked car bore a bloody palm print later matched to Taylor. But even before her body was found on June 12, police focused on Taylor after realizing he was the last person to call her phone, and he did so while traveling toward her home.
Taylor’s trial was marked by police and prosecutorial misconduct. His first arrest was essentially voided after police took his fingerprints, DNA and cellphone without probable cause and questioned him without reading him his rights. He was arrested again a month later in Florida.
During the trial, state Supreme Court Justice John Collins sanctioned the prosecution for withholding evidence from the defense, including a series of Crime Stoppers tips pointing to other possible suspects. Police also destroyed a threatening voice mail message from the boyfriend with whom Goode had just split.
“It’s a tragedy,” said Taylor’s trial attorney, John Lewis Jr. of Farmingdale. “His death is just another injustice in a string of injustices. I just hope someone is held accountable for his death. Now Suffolk County will not be held accountable for the injustices it committed in getting his conviction.”
Taylor’s family was not available for comment.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.newsday.com/beta/long-island/crime/dante-taylor-convicted-killer-dies-in-prison-officials-say-1.14406879