Taylor Santiago (Missouri Department of Corrections).
A mom serving a life sentence in Missouri for gunning down one of the fathers of her two children in a multistate shooting spree that left one man dead and another hospitalized is now facing extradition to Arkansas.
Taylor Santiago, 31, of Aurora, pleaded guilty in April to charges of first-degree murder, robbery, unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child in connection with the death of her ex-husband, Troy Huffman, at her residence in Missouri. She is also facing capital murder and attempted murder charges for the alleged attack on the surviving parent and his new girlfriend, who was killed when Santiago allegedly attacked them at their residence in Arkansas.
The Arkansas slaying was apparently part of an hourslong Jan. 23 attack that spilled over from Missouri into Arkansas, with prosecutors saying Santiago killed Huffman and then took his Mercedes to the neighboring state to shoot her estranged lover, Nathan Green, and his girlfriend, Sophia Williams, in front of the child she shared with Green. Williams died in the attack from a gunshot wound to the head.
Court records show that an extradition hearing related to Williams” death has been scheduled for Oct. 30. Arkansas prosecutors say Santiago “fled from justice in the aforesaid state” and must now answer for her crimes, which allegedly include capital murder in the first degree, attempted capital murder, aggravated residential burglary, first-degree battery, and endangering the welfare of a minor. A complaint was filed against Santiago, who is locked up at the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri, on Tuesday.
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Santiago allegedly confessed to shooting the fathers of her children and Williams, with cops saying she called 911 from the parking lot of the Aurora Police and Fire Facility in Missouri at around 2 a.m. Officers immediately took Santiago into custody and responded to her apartment, where they found Huffman dead.
While in custody, Santiago allegedly said she killed Huffman and then made the roughly 55-mile journey to Carroll County, Arkansas, in his Mercedes to shoot Green and Williams at the trailer they lived in, per Kansas City, Missouri, CBS affiliate KCTV. She turned herself in after arriving back in Missouri following the double shooting, officials say.
Aurora Police Chief Wes Coatney told Springfield, Missouri, NBC affiliate KYTV that he believed the motive was related to custody issues between Santiago and the two male victims. Coatney said it’s unclear why Santiago drove back to Missouri to turn herself in.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” he told KYTV. “I’m glad she did (turn herself in). I wish she would’ve come to us before she did all of this so we could’ve helped her.”
Santiago told a detective during her police interview that she invited Huffman over to her apartment to see their son before he was killed. Santiago said that when he arrived, she told the child she was going to “take care of the bad guys” and had the youngster cover their ears. Santiago pulled out a .38 revolver and hid it behind her back before walking into a room where Huffman was and killing him, according to the Lawrence County Record.
Santiago lived in an apartment building in Aurora, according to police officials, and her neighbor’s daughter was reportedly home at the time of the shooting attack.
“My daughter was home,” neighbor Karla Rodgers told KYTV. “She did hear some banging on the bathroom walls.”
Santiago’s child endangerment charge stems from Santiago’s daughter being present during the shooting in Arkansas, which left Green critically injured; the child was unharmed.
“At first, she was very nice,” Rodgers said about Santiago. “I don’t know if something happened. I believe she had gotten into drugs.”
Santiago reportedly described herself as a “disgusting, evil murderer” while speaking to police in Missouri. She said she believed that “death or jail forever” would be the only appropriate punishments.
