Insets: Donte Taylor and Elysia Kinsella (Chattanooga Police Department). Background: Studio 6 Suites in Chattanooga, Tenn., where police say Taylor ran over Kinsella’s body with his vehicle (Google Maps).
A Tennessee man has been accused of moving a woman’s blanket-wrapped body down a hotel stairwell, attempting to load it into his vehicle, and then running over the remains after they allegedly would not fit inside.
Donte Taylor, 40, is charged with abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in connection with the death of 22-year-old Elysia Kinsella, according to the Chattanooga Police Department.
Officers were called to Studio 6 Suites in the 100 block of Patten Chapel Road shortly before 4:30 p.m. on July 8. In the parking lot, police discovered a deceased woman later identified as Kinsella. Authorities said she had been reported missing after she stopped responding to relatives, and she was last seen on June 26.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by local ABC affiliate WTVC, surveillance footage allegedly showed Taylor arriving at the Chattanooga hotel in a Ford Crown Victoria before entering one of the rooms. Moments later, the affidavit reportedly states, he emerged carrying what appeared to be a body wrapped in blankets. Police allege Taylor dragged Kinsella’s remains down stairs and brought them to his vehicle, where he tried unsuccessfully to place the body in the trunk.
Investigators say Taylor then left the body behind the car and backed over it. He allegedly drove forward afterward, striking the body again and dragging it several feet across the parking lot.
The affidavit also reportedly says Taylor was later captured on video wiping what appeared to be blood from the rear bumper of his vehicle. Police arrested him later the same day.
The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that decomposition made Kinsella’s remains difficult to identify at first. Officials said an autopsy will be conducted to determine both the cause and manner of her 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.
