A man is facing a murder charge after police say he murdered a teen girl he solicited online for sex then buried her body in the backyard of a Fort Lauderdale home.
Tyquan Pearson, 25, was taken into custody Wednesday by the the Norfolk Police Department in Virginia to face a first-degree murder charge in the killing of 19-year-old Brittney Taylor, Broward Sheriff's Office officials said.
Taylor was last seen on the morning of May 25, when she was given a ride to the Comfort Suites on W. Commercial Boulevard in Tamarac. Surveillance video from the hotel showed her going into room 331.
About four hours later Pearson, who was temporarily living at the hotel, was seen leaving the same room pushing a large stroller with a blue storage container and other items, authorities said.
"Detectives believe Taylor’s lifeless body was inside that container," BSO said in a news release.
Pearson’s unsuspecting girlfriend picked him up from the hotel, and he told her he needed to drop off some things at a storage unit, authorities said. Among those items was the container, which he said was full of clothing and other items to give away, officials said.
Taylor's brother later reported her as a missing person. When detectives interviewed Pearson regarding her disappearance, he said he had solicited her services that afternoon, but when his girlfriend called to say she was on her way back to the hotel, he said he told Taylor to wait until he was gone and to let herself out. According to him, she was gone upon his return, BSO officials said.
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Detectives later responded to the home in Fort Lauderdale after learning that Pearson could have tried to hide evidence there, officials said. While searching the backyard, the detectives noticed a piece of blue plastic coming out of the ground.
The blue plastic was the corner piece of the container, which contained the decomposing remains of Taylor, officials said.
Pearson will be extradited to Broward County to face the murder charge. The motive for the murder remains unclear, officials said.
