State to Carry Out Sentence of Leonard Taylor

FEBRUARY 6, 2023

Jefferson City — Today, Governor Mike Parson confirmed that the State of Missouri will carry out the sentence of Leonard Taylor on Tuesday, February 7, 2023, as ordered by the Supreme Court of Missouri.

"Leonard Taylor brutally murdered a mother and her three children. The evidence shows Taylor committed these atrocities and a jury found him guilty. Courts have consistently upheld Taylor’s convictions and sentences under the facts and the Missouri and United States Constitutions," Governor Parson said. "Despite his self-serving claim of innocence, the facts of his guilt in this gruesome quadruple homicide remain. The State of Missouri will carry out Taylor’s sentences according to the Court's order and deliver justice for the four innocent lives he stole."

Taylor murdered his girlfriend, Angela Rowe, and her three children—Alexus (10), AcQreya (6), and Tyrese (5) Conley—in their home just before Thanksgiving in 2004. Each suffered execution-style wounds to the head and multiple other gunshot wounds. Taylor called his brother about the murders specifically describing his current and planned acts, which later matched evidence at the scene. His brother’s girlfriend also heard and attested to the content of these calls.

As Taylor fled to California to see his wife, a witness saw him discard the possible murder weapon. Bullets matching the caliber of the murder weapon were both found at the scene and discovered in Taylor’s car. Blood was found on Taylor’s sunglasses, and the DNA profile was consistent with Rowe’s DNA. After a nationwide manhunt, officers found Taylor hiding on the floorboards of a car while leaving another girlfriend’s home in Kentucky. Taylor has two prior forcible rape convictions, underscoring a history of violent acts against women.