Insets, from left: Mystique Taylor, Rolanda Monique Edwards and Kaylee Shackelford (Rome Police Department). Background: Rome, Georgia, apartment complex where Shackelford was killed (Google Maps).
A man allegedly stabbed and beat his girlfriend to death with a baseball bat before covering her body with blankets outside a Georgia apartment complex and driving off with a woman he met online.
Mystique Malachi Amaziah Taylor, 23, stands accused of felony murder, aggravated assault and concealing the death of another. Rolanda Monique Edwards, 25, faces charges of party to a crime, concealing the death of another and hindering apprehension of a criminal.
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According to the Rome Police Department, cops responded around noon on Tuesday for a report of a body found near Hull Avenue and Cedar Avenue. When they arrived, they discovered the body of a 20-year-old woman from Tennessee named Kaylee B. Shackelford.
Witnesses stated they saw a red car in the area just prior to the discovery of Shackelford's body. Cops later discovered the car about 20 miles away in Bartow County and arrested the suspects after a vehicle pursuit.
Detectives say Shackelford and Taylor were dating and he recently started an online relationship with Edwards.
According to local NBC affiliate WXIA, a judge at a bond hearing said Taylor stabbed Shackelford in the neck, chest and face with a knife and then hit her in the head with a baseball bat. Cops have not publicly divulged a motive for the crime. They did say neither Taylor nor Shackelford are from the Rome area. Shackelford lived in Powell, Tennessee, which is about 160 miles northeast of the crime scene.
On Friday, cops added a feticide charge against Taylor after it was discovered that Shackelford was pregnant.
Taylor is being held without bond while Edwards has a $5,000 bond.
