Conviction Upheld For Man That Murdered Long Beach Teacher

LONG BEACH, CA – A state appeals court panel Tuesday upheld a man's conviction for fatally stabbing his children's maternal grandmother in a Long Beach park. The grandmother was a teacher, and her students had been playing in the park where she was killed.

The three-justice panel from California's 2nd District Court of Appeal rejected the defense's contention that there were errors in the trial of Steven Dwayne Brown, who was convicted last year of first-degree murder for slitting Kellye Taylor's throat on Oct. 11, 2013 at Orizaba Park.

Brown testified during his trial at the Long Beach courthouse that he had acted in self-defense because he believed the 53-year-old woman was reaching into her purse for what he thought was a weapon, and maintained at his March 2016 sentencing that she "was not murdered."

He told the woman's family members that he was "sorry" but called on them to retain an attorney and to sue the hospital where she was treated, saying that Taylor was "alive and well prior to the exploratory incision."

In a 51-page ruling, the appellate court justices wrote that "there was no evidence the attempted life-saving measures in the emergency room contributed to Taylor's death" and that "the strength of the evidence and the implausibility of the defense precludes a reasonable probability of a more favorable outcome."

Brown's three children – who were all under the age of 12 – had been placed with Taylor, over Brown's objection, according to Deputy District Attorney Diana Martinez. Taylor was attacked while she was watching over her Huntington Academy students, who were on recess in the park at Spaulding Street and Orizaba Avenue.

Another teacher who was at the park whisked the children away from the scene and a third teacher rendered aid to the mortally injured woman, Martinez said. Brown was apprehended about a quarter-mile away from the park, with the victim's blood on his pants, shirt and one of his work boots, the appellate court panel noted.

Taylor's blood was also found on the serrated edge of a knife and on the shirt in which it had been wrapped, which was discovered under a car about 200 feet from the park, and Brown's blood was found on the knife's handle.

Brown was sentenced in March 2016 to 86 years to life in prison after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Laura Laesecke refused to strike Brown's prior strikes for residential burglary and robbery, which tripled his sentence on the murder charge.

At Brown's sentencing, one of the victim's siblings, Pamela Huffman, said her sister "has been taken from us because of his evil, ugly ways."

Another one of her sisters, Tammy Henry, who is raising Brown's three children, said then, "I'm trying to get these kids healed ... The sky's the limit. They're going to make it."

City News Service and Patch staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post; Image via Shutterstock