Brevard Grand Jury Indicts Joshua Taylor For First-Degree Premeditated Murder of Tashaun Jackson

By  //  March 19, 2019

Jackson was mother to four children

A Brevard County Grand Jury has issued an indictment on Tuesday charging 30-year-old Joshua Taylor (left) with one count of First Degree Premeditated Murder with Firearm in the shooting and killing of Tashaun Jackson (right).

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA – A Brevard County Grand Jury has issued an indictment on Tuesday charging 30-year-old Joshua Taylor with one count of First Degree Premeditated Murder with Firearm in the shooting and killing of Tashaun Jackson.

Taylor was also indicted on one count of Kidnapping While Inflicting Death; and one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.

On February 10, Cocoa Police responded to a report that Jackson failed to return home after walking to a nearby convenience store the day before (Feb 9).

Surveillance video confirmed Jackson had been at the store, but left alone a few minutes after arriving.

Jackson’s body was discovered almost a week later by BCSO Aviation Unit on February 15 in rural Osceola County.

Jackson’s body was discovered almost a week later by BCSO Aviation Unit on February 15 in rural Osceola County. (Image for Space Coast Daily)

The investigation reveals that Jackson had been abducted and killed by Taylor on the same day of her disappearance.

Police said Taylor committed the kidnapping and murder in order to avoid a possible life sentence for the attempted sexual battery case.

“We believe that she was killed because of the prior case,” Cocoa police Chief Mike Cantaloupe said.

Taylor was arrested by Cocoa Police on February 26 at his mother’s home in Cocoa.

The Grand Jury heard testimony from the Brevard County Medical Examiner, along with a Criminal Investigator from the Cocoa Police Department and a lay witness, before returning with the indictment.

No trial date has been set and Taylor remains in custody on No Bond at the Brevard County Jail.

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