Insets: Donte Taylor and Elysia Kinsella (Chattanooga Police Department). Background: Studio 6 Suites in Chattanooga, Tenn., where Taylor allegedly ran over Kinsella's body with his car (Google Maps).
A Tennessee man is accused of dragging a woman's corpse wrapped in blankets down a hotel staircase before trying to place the remains in his car and running them over when they didn't fit.
Donte Taylor, 40, is facing charges of abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in the death of 22-year-old Elysia Kinsella, the Chattanooga Police Department said.
Cops responded shortly before 4:30 p.m. July 8 to Studio 6 Suites on the 100 block of Patten Chapel Road. They found a dead woman — later identified as Kinsella — in the parking lot. She had been reported missing after she stopped communicating with family, and she was last seen on June 26.
An arrest affidavit obtained by local ABC affiliate WTVC said surveillance video showed Taylor arriving at the hotel in a Ford Crown Victoria and walking into a room. A short time later, he walked out carrying what looked like a body covered in blankets, the affidavit reportedly said. He allegedly dragged Kinsella's remains down a flight of stairs and carried them to his car. He tried to put the body in his trunk, but it wouldn't fit, police say.
Taylor reportedly left the body behind his car and ran it over when he backed up. He then drove forward and ran the body over again and dragged it several feet, cops allege.
The suspect was later seen on video wiping what appeared to be blood off his rear bumper, the affidavit reportedly said. Cops arrested Taylor later that day.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that Kinsella's body was in a state of decomposition that initially made it difficult for authorities to identify the remains. An autopsy will determine the cause and manner of death.
Taylor is in the Hamilton County Jail on a $265,000 bond and was appointed a public defender. But a family member was reportedly set to pay Taylor's bond — a development that apparently didn't sit well with the judge in the case.
"That's troubling to me that there's somebody who's represented by the public defender's office is out on a $265,000 bond," Hamilton County Judge Larry Ables said, according to a courtroom report from local NBC affiliate WRCB. "In fact, I would think that the legislature would find it appalling that that would be happening. So, I've got some concerns."
Kinsella's mother was irate. She said she knew the family member who wanted to pay the bond.
"How could you? I get you love your nephew or family member, but knowing what he did, why would you help him get out? That right there just says you're just as heartless as he is," she told the TV station.
Ray Fowler used to work with Kinsella at Domino's. In an interview with WRCB, he described her as "vibrant" and said "you could hear her laugh from a mile away."
"She commanded attention in such a way that you just couldn't ignore her," Fowler told the TV station. "She was so fun."
Taylor is next slated to appear in court on Aug. 11.