JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — New documents in the case against Brianna Williams paint a dark picture of her daughter’s brief life.
Police reports released this week show investigators discovered a closet in Williams’ Southside apartment reeking of bodily waste and human decomposition, as well as bloodstains on the carpet and walls that tested positive for Taylor Williams’ DNA.
Investigators believe Williams, a former Navy Petty Officer First Class at NAS Jax, kept her 5-year-old daughter in that closet when she was not at home.
Williams is charged with aggravated child abuse, lying to police and tampering with evidence. Officials contend she tortured, maliciously punished or caged Taylor sometime between the last time the girl was seen alive in April 2019 and when Williams reported the girl missing last November. The girl’s remains were found days later outside the small Alabama town where Williams grew up.
Williams has pleaded not guilty.
Perhaps one of the strangest new bits of information in the document release: Police say GPS records show Williams drove round-trip from Jacksonville to Alabama three times in just three days before she reported the girl missing. It is unclear what each of those 15-hour round-trip outings entailed.
Several friends and family members told police that Williams complained about her daughter hiding food, and said she was punished with a “time out” when that happened. A former coworker at Norfolk Naval Base, Calandra Frazier, described Williams as “wild and dangerous" with men, and into BDSM. When investigators asked Frazier what she thought had happened to Taylor she replied, “Starved her, locked her in the room. Not feeding her. Starved her to death.”
A family member told police she “believed the victim had ‘switched the switch,’ meaning the victim was no longer living."
None reported seeing the girl since May of 2019.
Police searching the dumpster behind Williams's Southside apartment found cards and school papers with Taylor’s name on them, along with a stuffed bear that said “Happy Birthday Taylor.” They also found several pairs of girl's clothing “soiled and bound together with dried feces,” and discarded sex toys.
The On Your Side team is going through the newly released documents and will update this developing tonight starting at 5 p.m. on First Coast News.
Photos of missing Jacksonville 5-year-old Taylor Rose Williams
