Ga. Mom Accused of Killing Her 2 Babies 3 Years Apart By KC Baker

A Georgia mother is accused of killing her 7-month-old son in 2021 — and, three years later, murdering her 8-month-old son in 2025.

Dakota Nicole Taylor, 21, of Wrens, was arrested on Thursday, Nov. 20, and charged with two counts each of malice murder, felony murder and cruelty to children in the first degree, according to a statement from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).

The alleged murders came to authorities’ attention on Jan. 8, 2025, when the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office asked the GBI to help investigate the death of an 8-month-old child in Matthews.

The baby, who was Taylor’s child, was found unresponsive at a home on Mt. Moriah Road, according to the GBI statement. The child was rushed to a local hospital, where he died.

Following a lengthy investigation, Taylor was arrested on Thursday, Nov. 20.

At the time of her arrest, Taylor was being held at the McDuffie County Jail on other charges out of DeKalb County, Ga., relating to another child death investigation from 2021.

According to a grand jury arrest warrant obtained by WRDW/WAGT/Gray News, Taylor was accused by authorities of killing her 7-month-old son Micah Allen Taylor in Sept. 2021 by obstructing his airways.

His cause of death had been ruled undetermined until her second son died, according to the warrant.

On the night Micah died, police body cam footage shows officers arriving at a group home where Taylor was staying with her son, who was unresponsive, according to the grand jury arrest warrant.

After giving Micah a bath, she allegedly put him in his swing, where others in the home noticed him “slumped over and pale,” according to the grand jury arrest warrant.

Officers at the scene noticed Taylor’s alleged unusual reaction to her son’s limp body being carried out of the home, the grand jury arrest warrant alleges.

“I don’t know if this has anything to do with anything, but the mother, didn’t … She was very … Like ‘alright, whatever.’ And I was like your baby is …” one officer said in body camera footage, according to the grand jury arrest warrant.

Another officer said Taylor seemed “nonchalant,” it alleges.

As the investigation unfolded, detectives learned that on Jan. 8 of this year, Taylor allegedly deprived her son Caleb of oxygen by causing “excessive physical and mental pain,” according to the grand jury arrest warrant.

According to the criminal warrant obtained by PEOPLE, Taylor allegedly “caused the death of Caleb Taylor while committing a felony of cruelty to children in the first degree by suffocating Caleb Taylor.”

She is being held at the Jefferson County jail and has been denied bond, according to the criminal warrant obtained by PEOPLE.

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It is unclear whether Taylor has retained an attorney who can speak on her behalf.

The investigation is active and ongoing. 

Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI’s Regional Investigative Office in Thomson at 706-595-2575. 

Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.