April 10, 2014
Tell me, dear brothers: when was the last time you heard about a White teenager raping a 93-year-old woman?
From the Herald Bulletin:
With a jury selected and attorneys minutes away from presenting opening statements, an Anderson teen pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 93-year-old woman.
Iquise Taylor, 17, will be sentenced on four felony charges on May 5, with the plea deal he accepted Tuesday capping possible prison time to 50 years.
In front of his own family and victim Amelia Rudolf’s family, Taylor pleaded guilty to each charge read by Madison Circuit Court 3 Judge Thomas Newman — burglary, criminal deviate conduct, criminal confinement and strangulation.
On July 16, Taylor kicked in the locked door to Rudolf’s home in the 3600 block of Hamilton Place in Anderson. He confined her to a bed, covered her mouth and raped her, according to court discussions and previous reports.
Authorities narrowed the suspect list down to Taylor due to witness reports and Taylor’s own reported confession. Taylor’s DNA was also found at the scene, investigators said.
As the charges were read and accepted Tuesday, members of both families wept and comforted each other. Outside the courtroom, the teen’s mother, Angela Taylor, said she couldn’t bring herself to speak about the case. Tresa Hale, the daughter of the victim, said the family wanted to wait before making an announcement.
The case took interesting turns over the past nine months. In August, a gag order was filed at the request of Taylor’s attorney, Bryan Williams. The order barred either side from issuing public statements about the case.
In October, Newman ruled that Taylor was mentally incompetent to stand trial. At the time, Newman said it was his responsibility as judge to act as a gatekeeper to ensure a fair trial, and it would be in the best interest of justice to rule Taylor incompetent.
Newman’s decision came after two mental health doctors — Dr. Rebecca Mueller of Greenfield and Dr. Frank Krause of Muncie — split on whether the teen was mentally competent to assist in his own defense. Mueller determined the teen was competent, and Krause disagreed.
How much longer must we be forced to tolerate this plague among us?
How much longer is it physically possible for us to tolerate it?
At what point are they just going to go ahead and kill us all, eat our bodies to get magic powers?