In her final year of high school, Alexis Murphy is a young woman.
Early Life
According to the Huffington Post, she will be able to play volleyball next year while completing her post-secondary degree.
As of yesterday, the first practice without Murphy took place for her high school volleyball team. NBC 29 reported that Murphy, a forward, would be the team’s captain for the upcoming season.
Murphy had just returned from a week of volleyball camp when she tragically died.
His mom added that Alexis was a “nice kid” who had no criminal record.
Disappearance
Murphy left her house in Shipman, Virginia, on August 3rd, 2013 to travel to Lynchburg, Virginia. When she was last seen on August 3 at a Liberty gas station in Lovingston, Virginia, driving a white 2003 Nissan Maxima, she was unharmed.
She was reported missing in the following days, and a search was initiated. On August 6, Albemarle County police discovered Murphy’s automobile abandoned in a movie theatre parking lot.
On the 10th of August, the police revealed that they were looking for those seen in close vicinity to Murphy in the images. A suspect, later identified as Randy Taylor, was arrested the next day.
Investigation
The security video at the petrol station showed a number of persons, including Taylor, who was being investigated by police before his arrest.
Taylor’s camper was inspected by authorities, and a strand of Murphy’s hair was found. Searches by diving teams and canine units were performed because Taylor lived near a river. They came up with a red sweatshirt.
At first, it was assumed that the sweater belonged to Murphy, but a further investigation found that this was not the case. A number of cell phones were also found and transferred to the FBI’s Quantico laboratory for testing. Taylor’s camper was revealed to have Murphy’s DNA.
Taylor was indicted on two felonies on the 24th of September, 2013. First-degree murder, first-degree felony murder,
kidnapping with the purpose to defile, and an unrelated grand larceny charge were all indicted against Taylor in January 2014. Shortly before Taylor was scheduled to stand trial, investigators conducted a search of his home.
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Sentencing After a Trial
It was not until May 1st, 2014 that Taylor’s case went to trial. It took around eight hours for the jury selection process to be completed and the trial was presided over by Judge Michael Gamble.
Attorneys, police officers, and others involved in the case have been ordered by Judge Gamble to refrain from speaking publicly about it.
While Murphy was in his camper, Taylor said she had arrived with another man, Damien Brown, to buy marijuana and that the two of them had departed together. She pled not guilty to the murder allegations.
He was represented by Michael Hallahan, who stated that despite Brown having left the state shortly after Murphy vanished, law enforcement had not conducted a comprehensive investigation into this claim and had instead concentrated on Taylor.
Taylor’s camper contained evidence such as a strand of hair, a ripped fingernail, and a diamond earring stud.
Hallahan had attempted to suppress evidence and statements obtained through search warrants before trial, but his request was denied.
First-degree murder and abduction with intent to defile charges were convicted Taylor on May 8 in connection with Murphy’s disappearance. Taylor tried to get a reduced sentence during the hearing.
A third individual was engaged and he offered to reveal the location of the body in exchange for a twenty-year prison sentence; Taylor’s offer was rejected.
Two life sentences were handed down to Taylor on July 23rd, 2014.
Invoking the Name of Jesse Matthew
Taylor ordered a DNA test on Jesse Matthew in October 2014, shortly after the discovery of Hannah Graham’s remains.
Taylor’s counsel said that Matthew could be responsible for Murphy’s disappearance because he had been linked to several other disappearances, including that of Morgan Dana Harrington. Furthermore, Hallahan requested a social media investigation to discover if Murphy had ever contacted Matthew via any of her social media accounts.
Anthony Martin, the Nelson County Commonwealth’s Attorney, said there was no connection between the two instances, but he did the requested tests, which ruled Matthew out as a suspect.
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A year later, Taylor filed an appeal, arguing that Hallahan’s representation was inadequate and that he had not gotten a fair trial. After his first appeal was rejected in May 2015, he sought rehearing from the Virginia Supreme Court. In February of this year, he lost a second appeal.
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