‘Gruesome!’ - Family stunned at grisly murders involving soldier, boyfriend, and infant
Published:Monday | June 8, 2020 | 12:00 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
An army tag with the words ‘Love Tyler Forever’, said to be the property of Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) graduate Lexton Clayton, was the sole evidence found by a relative, confirming fears the military woman had met her demise.
The bodies of Clayton, 22, who had not been seen since early Saturday; her two-year-old son, Tyler; and the child’s father, 28-year-old Kimani Taylor, were all found burnt beyond recognition yesterday.
The charred remains were discovered deep in bushes near Pear Tree River in Port Morant.
An autopsy is to be done to determine the cause of death.
Family, friends, and curious onlookers journeyed to the remote location yesterday to get a glimpse, and though grief-stricken, those who knew the couple well spoke unkindly of Kimani Taylor, a security guard. The couple’s relationship was said to be turbulent.
Everton Elliot, Clayton’s stepfather who raised her since she was two years old, was angry – not just about her death but because he had remained quiet even when he saw red flags.
“The man have him plan long time ... ,” Elliot told The Gleaner.
News of the tragedy was relayed to Elliot on his return from his farm yesterday.
A resident, who requested anonymity, said that he had, a day earlier, seen a man believed to be Taylor pull up along the roadway and roll what appeared to be tyres into bushes.
There are also theories that Taylor may have been trying to rid himself of young Tyler, allegedly offering a woman in the area money to take the infant.
“Saturday, him come with money and a say fi keep the baby, and the girl say, ‘No, man.’ Him say, ‘Me a give yuh di whole a da money here,’ and she say, ‘No, man, and we nuh know yuh,’” a resident told The Gleaner.
Residents said Taylor appeared shaken and unstable when spotted Saturday.
“She go in and lock her door, and him drive away, but inna dem time deh, the girl [probably] dead already. So when nobody nah tek the baby, him just go back round deh and put the baby on the fire, too, and dem find a bottle near the scene, like him drink something and lay down by the fire, too,” a purported eyewitness said.
Clayton’s cousin remembered her as jovial, respectful, and ambitious, recalling her last moment with Clayton in person on Friday.
“When she come from work and she jump through the door[way] and say good night. She was telling us that she tired ‘cause she did some brief training drill and was feeling a little flesh pain,” the relative said.
Taylor had reportedly rented a motor car for two days. It was the curious owner who tracked the vehicle to the location where it was found abandoned, The Gleaner understands.
“This is past tragic, this is gruesome! She nuh deserve this death. The brother found dem and said he knew it was her because of the name tag that JDF give to them,” a cousin, who requested anonymity, told The Gleaner. “It was hanging there from a tree.”
Both the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the JDF informed The Gleaner that they were probing the matter.