Full-time Caregiver Sentenced to 50 Years for Murdering Blind, Disabled Nephew in 2020

A 54-year-old “full-time” caregiver who pleaded guilty months ago to murdering his blind and “unable to walk” nephew in a bedroom at his home west of Chicago in 2020 will have to serve the entirety of the resulting 50-year prison sentence, which means he will have to live until he is roughly 100 years old to see the outside of prison again, according to Illinois prosecutors.

In February, Dominick Cedric Taylor admitted to first-degree murder in the death of 43-year-old Damian B. Scott, whom prosecutors in the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office said in a press release was the victim of a “particularly disturbing” strangulation at the hands of his uncle amid the “throes” of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prosecutors claimed, and Taylor admitted in his guilty plea, that he murdered Scott on April 26, 2020, at a Bloomingdale home where he lived with his wife and the victim, then took a series of actions to avoid justice, leaving his spouse to discover the victim dead in a bedroom.
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Taylor attempted to evade detection by turning off his phone and withdrawing cash from his wife’s account without her knowledge — and the “one-way Amtrak train ticket” from Chicago to Michigan purchased by the defendant did not ultimately accomplish anything, even though Taylor later attempted to fight extradition from the Wolverine State, according to prosecutors.

Surprisingly, the DuPage County Coroner’s Office’s investigation into Scott’s death discovered “evidence” indicating the victim had been strangled previously.

“Following a postmortem examination performed by the DuPage County Coroner’s Office, a deep tissue hemorrhage around the victim’s hyoid bone was identified, which is consistent with manual strangulation,” the prosecutor stated. “The exam also identified a healed fracture around the thyroid cartilage determined to be evidence of a prior strangulation.”

After the defendant was sentenced Thursday in Judge Brian Telander’s court, State’s Attorney Robert Berlin stated that Taylor’s role “was to protect Damian’s life, not take it, as alleged in this case.”

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“What I find particularly disturbing in this case, however, is that as Damian’s caretaker, Mr. Taylor was responsible for Damian’s safety and well-being,” Berlin said, noting that Scott was mentally challenged as per lawandcrime.

According to the 18th Judicial Circuit Court records obtained by Law&Crime, Taylor was given credit for 1,515 days served, which equates to around four years.