Dante Taylor, Sarah Goode’s Convicted Killer: 5 Fast Facts

Tonight on Dateline NBC, reporter Andrea Canning examines the disappearance of Sarah Goode who vanished without a trace. Goode was a 21-year-old single mother at the time of her disappearance and murder in 2014. Then 19-year-old Dante Taylor was charged with her murder.

Taylor was sentenced to life without parole in 2016, a little over two years after Goode’s initial disappearance.

The episode of Dateline includes interviews with Goode’s family and friends, prosecutor Janet Albertson and more. Goode was part of a large, tight-knit family.

Here’s what you should know about Dante Taylor:

1. Taylor Allegedly Knew Goode From the Neighborhood

Dateline Episode Trailer: Finding Sarah Goode | Dateline NBCWhen the youngest sister of a large, tight-knit family on Long Island goes missing, they go to extraordinary lengths to find her. Andrea Canning reports in a two-hour Dateline. Watch the Full Episode of Dateline: http://www.nbc.com/dateline/video/finding-sarah-goode/3480708 Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/datelinenbc Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/datelinenbc Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/datelinenbc2017-03-09T20:00:13Z

On the evening of June 6, 2014, Sarah Goode left her 4-year-old daughter Jocelyn with her mother and went to a party in Medford, New York where she and her friends were able to get together and have fun. She was reported missing on June 8, 2014.

Two days later, her abandoned car was found and investigators spotted bloody handprints and other bloodstains in the car. They located her body less than a mile away on June 12, 2014. An autopsy revealed she was raped and stabbed over 40 times.

A month later, 19-year-old Dante Taylor was arrested and charged with raping and murdering Goode. He’d attended the same party that she did on June 6, and her cell phone records revealed that they had been communicating earlier that day. Taylor pleaded not guilty to the murder.

The defense argued that Taylor had consensual sex with Goode in the early hours of June 7, 2014 but someone else must have attacked her where her car was found.

2. Taylor Was a Former Marine

Taylor had enlisted in the marines and entered active service in the Corps on September 23, 2014. His end of active service came just seven months later, though the reason for his discharge was not disclosed, according to Newsday.

Giselle Ruano, who lived in the same neighborhood as both Goode and Taylor said they knew each other from the neighborhood and had things in common because of his military background.

“Sarah knew Dante from the neighborhood,” she said. “They had stuff in common… Sarah comes from a big military family and knew a lot about the Marines. Dante had just got back from the Marines. He was angry he had to leave.”

3. He Was Sentenced to Life Without Parole

Sarah Goode SentencingCBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reports.2016-07-29T22:33:24Z

On June 16, 2016, Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder for raping and killing Goode. The guilty verdict came after 14.5 hours of deliberations over three days for the jurors, and it came shortly after jurors reviewed photographs of a palm print allegedly left by Taylor on the hood of Sarah Goode’s car. 

Taylor was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said nothing when he was given a chance to speak.

“You may make marks on the cell block on your walls in the cage in the cage in which you will live and they will have no significance,” said State Supreme Court Judge John Collins. “You may circle dates on the calendar but they will mean nothing because there is no date for you to get out. There shall be no hope for you.”

4. Taylor Died in Prison

Dateline Episode Trailer: Finding Sarah Goode | Dateline NBCAndrea Canning reports Friday, May 15 at 9/8c on NBC. Watch full episodes: http://www.nbc.com/dateline Like us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/datelinenbc Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/datelinenbc Follow us on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/datelinenbc2020-05-12T17:53:50Z

In October 2017, Taylor was found dead at the upstate prison where he was serving life without parole.

The New York State Department of Corrections did not immediately release the cause of death, but they said he died at the maximum security Wende Correctional Facility in Alden, just outside Buffalo, New York.

It was later revealed that Taylor killed himself in an infirmary cell at the prison.

5. His Family Filed a Lawsuit Following His Death

Mastic Man Charged In Death Of Medford Woman Following Arrest In FloridaPolice have made an arrest in the death of a young Long Island mother whose body was found in a wooded area in Medford, last month. CBS 2’s Steve Langford reports.2014-07-12T23:18:11Z

Now, Taylor’s family is suing officials over his death, saying that officials beat the man hours before his suicide and ignored warning signs that put him at a heightened risk for self harm.

The lawsuit seeks damages and lists administrators, nurses, doctors and correctional officers as defendants. It does not list the stat prison system as a defendant, however.

Among the factors that the family argues put Taylor at an increased risk for suicide were a history of suicide attempts and a breakup with his wife, but the family says that the officials did not increase support or monitoring for Taylor.

“Had Defendants met their basic constitutional duties, Mr. Taylor would still be alive today,” the family argues in the lawsuit. “He would be able to maintain relationships with his family and friends, pursue his intended legal appeals to his conviction, and contribute to society going forward in whatever manner was possible.”

Rebecca Musser: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know