WHEC
November 23, 2014
A Rochester man, found guilty of killing a mother and daughter who were pet-sitting for a neighbor, will spend the rest of his life in prison.
The judge sentenced Dante Taylor to the maximum, life without parole, for the murders of Terri Moulton and her daughter Stacey Moulton. The two women were found dead in a home in Sodus last year. They had gone to the house to check on a friend’s cat. Prosecutors say they walked in on Taylor burglarizing the home. Taylor was on parole at the time.
The courtroom was filled with family and close friends who came to see justice done. Chuck Moulton, the husband and father of the victims, was in the front row. He wrote a statement that was read in court in which he said he was a casualty in this horrific tragedy and saying he could write a book expressing the life he feels.
In asking for the maximum sentence, District Attorney Rick Healy said Taylor is lucky the state doesn’t have the death penalty. “He took two innocent lives in this case. He gets life without parole. Does that punishment fit the crime?”
Defense attorney Joseph Damelio said, “He’s maintained from the very beginning that he’s a working man, that he was supporting his family and that he didn’t commit these crimes.”
Terri Moulton’s cousin Scott Briggs said, “He got the maximum sentence. He deserves it. He doesn’t deserve an appeal. He’ll file one. But I hope he never succeeds. And we’re going to move on and do the best we can.”
Before he had even left the courthouse, Taylor’s attorney had filed the appeal.