The Murder of Alexis Murphy

Alexis Murphy traveled from her home in Shipman, Virginia, to Lynchburg on August 3, 2013, to do a little shopping. The 17-year-old was excited about her upcoming senior portraits at school and wanted to look great.

Alexis had a fairly large social media following. She tweeted several times during the day, her last, “burg bound,” posted at 5:40 p.m. When she never returned home, her family notified authorities.

The Man on CCTV

Investigators learned Alexis stopped at a gas station in Lovingston. A heavily tattooed man named Randy Alen Taylor was one of a few people in the market at the same time as Alexis. He held the door for the teenager, although neither spoke afterward, leading police to take a closer look at him.

Authorities tracked Taylor down to a camouflage camper near the Liberty station and took him in for questioning. He denied even being at the gas station, despite footage showing him there.

Several items collected from the camper -a fingernail embedded in the carpet, hair, and a pair of stud earrings- were confirmed by DNA to belong to Alexis.

Taylor Arrested on Kidnapping Charges

Police suspected Taylor knew more about Alexis’s disappearance than he had told them. He was arrested on kidnapping charges.

Two days later, authorities recovered Alexis’s Nissan Maxima at a Carmike Cinema in Charlottesville, about 30 miles from the gas station. Numerous witnesses came forward saying Taylor dined at an Applebee's in the area on the night Alexis disappeared.

A subsequent search of the camper revealed damning evidence. The shirt Taylor wore on the day Alexis disappeared was found hidden inside the sofa. Wrapped inside the shirt were wads of hair extensions, the kind woven into the head, along with artificial fingernails. Blood covered the shirt. DNA evidence determined the blood belonged to Alexis.

On August 14, a trained sniffing dog tracked down Alexis’s phone outside near Taylor’s camper.

Additional Charges

Police did not have a body, but were confident Taylor had murdered Alexis. Additional charges, including first-degree murder and first-degree felony murder, were added to his original charges.

When confronted with evidence, Taylor admitted he met Alexis at the gas station that night and told investigators she came to his camper with another man, whom he later identified as Dameon Bradley, to buy marijuana. He said they all smoked together and left in separate vehicles around 9 p.m., but he maintained he did not harm her.

Two Life Sentences

No one believed Taylor’s story, considering the substantial evidence supporting the theory that he had harmed Alexis. A jury convicted him of murder and kidnapping and sentenced him to two consecutive life terms.

Taylor maintained his innocence and never provided additional information about Alexis’s murder, including the location of her body.

Years passed. Taylor’s appeals failed. He sat withering away behind bars, still unwilling to give Alexis’s family details that would allow them to put her to rest and get the closure they deserved.

Taylor Leads Police to Alexis's Remains

He finally broke in December 2020. Seven years after killing Alexis Murphy, Randy Taylor led investigators to a field in Lovingston where he had dumped her body. Investigators positively identified the remains as Alexis in February 2021.

Taylor maintains his innocence to this day.

Sources:

https://afro.com/man-jailed-for-allegedly-abducting-alexis-murphy-now-charged-with-murder/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-man-guilty-of-abducting-murdering-missing-teen-17/

https://wtop.com/virginia/2021/03/alexis-murphys-killer-led-authorities-to-her-remains-remains-focal-point-in-virginia-murder-of-samantha-clarke/