Photo: Facebook/Amanda Taylor

When Amanda Taylor’s husband Rex Taylor committed suicide, her world fell apart, and she blamed her father-in-law Charles Taylor for it. She teamed up with her like-minded friend Sean Ball and murdered Charles in his home. They fled the scene after the murder, but not before Amanda took a picture with the victim. Dubbed the “selfie killer,” Amanda was chased by the police across three states before finally being arrested. Even though she pleaded “not guilty” in court, the jury sentenced her to life. Amanda is currently in jail in Virginia and plans to appeal to the Supreme Court against her sentence.

It was a spring afternoon in April 2015, in Ironto, Virginia, when Amanda Taylor and her friend-cum-soulmate Sean Ball went to Charlie Taylor’s ramshackle house. The time was 3:27 pm, the number that signified Rex and Amanda’s birthdays. Rex Taylor was the deceased husband of Amanda who had committed suicide earlier by hanging himself, bringing an end to a troubled life of opioid addiction. Amanda was shattered by her husband’s suicide and blamed his father Charles Taylor for his untimely death.

Amanda claimed that Charles was responsible for his son’s addiction and death as he had kept feeding his addiction with a steady supply of pills. Amanda’s friend Johnny Roebuck said at that time, “In my opinion Charlie caused him to be addicted to them. I know it was Rex’s choice to take the medicine and abuse it, but without a steady supply from his father things could have been different.” Amanda believed the same and decided that she would take revenge for Rex’s death by killing her father-in-law Charles in the most bloody way possible.

Relentless Stabbing with a Knife

On that fateful day in Charles’ house, he was alone when Amanda and Ball entered and began the bloody killing of Charles. Amanda started stabbing him, again and again, plunging the knife deep into Charles, while Ball was bashing and crushing Charles’ head with a tire iron. Charles tried to fight back and grabbed Amanda’s hair and asked, “What are you doing” and started yelling, but Amanda continued to stab him relentlessly. When she finally stopped, she had stabbed Charles 31 times. Charles was dead, and his blood was splattered everywhere, on the pictures, on the walls. The couch was also soaked with blood.

Celebration of a Murder

Then Amanda did a bone-chilling thing. She posed in front of Charles’ dead body with the knife still in her hand dripping with blood and took a picture of herself. She called herself the “Brunette Bomber” and posted the picture on her social media accounts. Amanda had taken her self-proclaimed revenge for her husband’s death and was reveling in it.

Manhunt Launched for “Selfie Killer”

Later Amanda asked a crime writer (who will be referred to as Natasha) to post the “selfie” on her blog, but she refused to do it and immediately called the police. Natasha remembers “When I saw the selfie and the smirk on her face I just felt sick to my stomach. She looked so proud of what she had done, and I just couldn’t believe it.” Amanda was dubbed the “Selfie Killer,” and the police launched a manhunt for her knowing from their investigation that Amanda was just getting started on her intended murder spree.

Shot in the Face

Amanda and Ball got some money, and after obtaining a car, they went to Tennessee with mass murder on their minds. Later, Ball had second thoughts and tried to convince Amanda to change her mind and not kill any more people. After a disagreement between them where Ball refused to kill any more people, Amanda turned furious and shot him in the face. Before she did so, Amanda told Ball “I want you to know before you die that I used you for your guns and your car and I hope you die.” After shooting him, Amanda took a picture of his face and went away.

Chase Comes to an End

The police finally spotted Amanda in North Carolina and closed in on her. Amanda called Natasha and told her that the police had surrounded her, and she was going to go out shooting, but Natasha talked her out of it. Police pulled Amanda out of her car and slapped handcuffs on her, thereby stopping her murder spree which could have been infinitely worse had she continued to evade the police. Later, the police found out that she tried to get in touch with members of the terrorist organization ISIS through social media.

Without Remorse

When she was tried in court, Amanda pleaded not guilty despite the considerable evidence proving her to be the killer. However, the jury deliberated for just 30 minutes and gave a verdict of “guilty” to Amanda convicting her of first-degree murder. Amanda was sentenced to prison for life, and the judge called her “evil personified.” Not that it bothered Amanda much as she later told Crime Watch Daily “I have absolutely no remorse for what I did to Charlie Taylor, at all. I did exactly what I wanted to do.”

Still Holding Out Hope

Today, Amanda is serving out her life sentence in the Fluvanna Correctional Center in Troy, Virginia, while her accomplice in murder Sean Ball is serving out his 60-year sentence, suspended after 41 years. Amanda has two children of her own, a boy named Damien Allen Taylor and a girl named Dayla Autumn Taylor. She also has a sister named Andrea Lantz. Amanda’s Facebook page tells viewers that her favorite quote is “Wherever we go, whatever happens, Mickey, when I look up at the stars, I’ll know you’ll be lookin’ up at the same ones.” Amanda’s gory story is not over yet, she recently appealed her conviction and lost. She now plans to appeal her sentence to the Supreme Court.