A dramatic twist has emerged in a Missouri legal saga involving a fatal love triangle dispute. The stakes have been significantly elevated for Cordero T. Cervantes, 35, who now faces a charge of second-degree murder, as specified in recent filings with the Platte County Circuit Court.

This development follows an indictment from October 28, 2022, where Cervantes was initially accused of tampering with evidence and a motor vehicle, as previously covered by Law&Crime. These charges are connected to the tragic death of 31-year-old Taylor Hawkins in June 2022.

Initially, the murder charge was directed at another individual. Back in October 2022, McKayla C. Archambeau, 25, was accused of second-degree murder, armed criminal action, and similar tampering offenses.

The tragic events unfolded at a residence on Oberdiek Lane in Platte City, a quaint suburb located about 25 miles northwest of Kansas City, Missouri. The unfolding legal drama continues to captivate attention in this tight-knit community.

Also in October 2022, McKayla C. Archambeau, 25, was charged with one count each of murder in the second degree, armed criminal action, tampering with evidence, and tampering with a motor vehicle.

The underlying incident occurred at a residence on Oberdiek Lane in Platte City — a small town and far-flung suburb located roughly 25 miles northwest of Kansas City, Missouri.

There, Archambeau shot Hawkins behind a barn on the property, a witness identified as the victim’s friend told law enforcement, according to a probable cause statement obtained by Kansas City-based CBS affiliate KCTV and local ABC affiliate KMBC.

Arriving deputies at the time of the fatal shooting found a “31-year-old white male who had been shot in the yard of the residence,” the Platte County Sheriff’s Office said in its initial press release asking for the public’s help in locating Archambeau and Cervantes. The two, in a relationship, were said to be considered “armed and dangerous.”

At the time, details were scarce.

In the intervening years, a witness offered key details of what occurred just before the shooting, law enforcement says.

The witness and the victim were unloading boxes at the residence when Cervantes and Hawkins began arguing about something, according to the probable cause statement. Then, the quarreling pair went off by themselves – to the back of the barn – to hash things out.

The witness remembers Hawkins being upset and saying one last audible thing before he died: “No, why’d you do it?”

Around the same time, a shot rang out, according to law enforcement.

After the violence, Cervantes allegedly reappeared from behind the barn “with a smirk on his face,” the witness told investigators.

The witness said he then ran for his life.

Later, law enforcement determined Hawkins and Archambeau had sex with one another roughly a week before the shooting, according to the probable cause statement. The victim apparently believed such non-monogamous exploits were a sign the woman was going to leave Cervantes and begin a committed romantic relationship with him.

Authorities also learned Archambeau and Cervantes were in an on-again, off-again relationship wherein the woman would often leave the man and return to ex-boyfriends, according to court documents.

Cervantes, for his part, allegedly had other thoughts about what the prior romance between his girlfriend and Hawkins meant.

Cervantes allegedly encouraged Archambeau to shoot Hawkins, law enforcement claim. The purported triggerwoman herself allegedly told detectives her boyfriend said “he needs to go” and to “finish him,” according to the probable cause statement.

Both defendants are alleged to have fled the state after the shooting; Cervantes and Archambeau were later arrested in Arkansas.

“This was a brutal and senseless killing,” Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd said in a press release issued on Tuesday. “We allege this defendant played a direct role in the death of another man, and then fled the state to avoid justice.”

Cervantes was released on probation after previously pleading guilty to one count of tampering with a motor vehicle; he is not currently in custody and a warrant is out for his arrest.

In August 2025, Archambeau pleaded guilty to all the counts against her. Sentencing in her case is slated for Nov. 14.

Eventually, however, authorities determined the woman had been less than forthcoming about the events that day.

After years of maintaining she shot Hawkins in the back after he lunged at Cervantes with a knife, the admitted murderess revealed the jealousy narrative during an interview with detectives September.

“[H]e wanted me to be the one to kill Taylor because I was the one that had slept with him,” Archambeau told law enforcement. “[Cervantes] was mad and made me kill him.”

The woman said the shooting occurred after a failed plan in which the couple would convince Hawkins to kill himself, according to the probable cause statement. Part of the plot included Archambeau leaving a gun in a place where Cervantes would hand the firearm to Hawkins, authorities claim. But, she did not leave the gun as planned.

After that, Archambeau said, Cervantes looked at her with “such rage in his eyes,” according to the probable cause statement. That rage-filled gaze was interpreted as direction to shoot Hawkins, she said.

There are also, now, allegations of abuse.

Asked whether Cervantes was abusive, Archambeau allegedly said she eventually came to believe as much – after Cervantes would hit her in bed at night. At first, she said, he blamed the attacks on nightmares. Eventually, the woman said she noticed a pattern. Such attacks occurred on nights the couple argued, according to law enforcement.