Missouri Man Executed For Murder Despite Continued Claims He Was In Another State

A Missouri man convicted of killing his live-in girlfriend and her three young children nearly two decades ago was executed this week despite claims he was innocent.

Raheem Taylor died Tuesday after receiving five grams of the drug pentobarbital at the state prison in Bonne Terre, the Associated Press reported.

The 58-year-old long maintained that he was in California when his late partner, Angela Rowe, her 10-year-old daughter Alexus Conley, 6-year-old daughter AcQreya Conley and 5-year-old son Tyrese Conley were killed in 2004.

Police found all four had been fatally shot at their home in the St. Louis suburb of Jennings on Dec. 3 while Taylor was in California.

The killings likely happened within a few days of the discovery while Taylor was in The Golden State, according to the initial finding by a medical examiner.

However, Medical Examiner Phillip Burch said during Taylor's trial that the killings could have also happened two or three weeks before the bodies were found.

Several people, including Rowe's relatives and a neighbor, saw her alive in the days after Taylor left St. Louis, according to Taylor's attorney, Kent Gipson.

Taylor's daughter in California, Deja Taylor, also claimed in a court filing that she and her father called Rowe and one of the children during his visit, a claim that was corroborated by Deja's mother and sister.

Despite these claims, St. Louis County's elected prosecutor at the time of the killings, Bob McCulloch, stated that Raheem's claim of innocence was "nonsense" and that the alibis his daughter and her relatives provided were "completely made up."

Evidence suggested that Rowe and her kids were killed on the night of Nov. 22 or on Nov. 23 when Raheem was still in St. Louis, according to McCulloch.

The former prosecutor noted that Rowe typically made around 70 outgoing calls or texts each day, but had made none starting on Nov. 23.

Additionally, Rowe's DNA was found on Raheem's glasses when he was arrested.

A relative of Raheem who took him to the airport also saw him toss a gun into the sewer, while Raheem's brother told police that Raheem had admitted to the crime, McCulloch said.

Authorities believe Raheem shot Rowe during a violent argument before killing the children because they were witnesses.

Raheem was reportedly the third Missouri inmate to be put to death at the state prison in Bonne Terre since November.

He was the fifth person to be executed in the United States this year, all of which were also carried out via lethal injection.

Raheem was supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, nearly three dozen civil rights and religious groups and the Midwest Innocence Project.

His claims of innocence were repeatedly turned aside, with incumbent St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell declining Raheem's request for a hearing before a judge last week.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson declined to grant clemency Monday, the same day the state's Supreme Court denied a stay request. The high court ultimately declined to intervene.

"I know justice was served. It's kind of hard trying to move forward, but I think I can do it," Rowe's sister, Gerauan Rowe, said after Raheem's execution.