Santiago gets life plus 41 years for January Aurora murder

Santiago
31-year-old pleads guilty to first-degree murder, first degree robbery, remains in custody at Lawrence County Jail
An Aurora woman who killed two people and wounded another in a two-state murder spree was sentenced to life in prison, plus 41 years. Taylor Santiago, 31, was sentenced for the murder of Troy Huffman on Tuesday, June 10.
Santiago murdered Huffman, 53, on January 23. According to the probable cause statement in the case, at around 2 a.m. on Jan. 23, the Aurora-Marionville Police Department dispatched officers to Santiago’s apartment after they received a phone call from her in which she said she had killed three people. At the residence, they found Santiago and took her into custody. They then entered the residence and found Huffman dead. According to a posting by Chief Wes Coatney on the Aurora-Marionville Facebook page, Huffman was Santiago’s estranged husband.
A detective with the AMPD reported that he conducted a post-Miranda interview with Santiago. During the interview, the detective said, Santiago told him that she decided late in the evening of Jan. 22 that she was going to kill Huffman, as well as her estranged lover and his current girlfriend, who lived in Arkansas; they were later identified as Nathan Green and Sophia Williams.
Santiago allegedly told the detective that she invited Huffman to her apartment under the pretense of seeing their child. She said that she then told the child that she would “take care of the bad guys” and instructed the child to cover their ears. She then drew her .38 revolver and hid it behind her back before she left the room where the child was.
Next, Santiago said, she shot Huffmann twice and then took his car keys. She also reportedly told the detective that she had invited Huffman over to her residence with the intent of killing him and stealing his car.
Afterward, Santiago reportedly told the detective that she drove to Carroll County, where she said she killed Green and Williams.
Santiago pleaded guilty to murdering Huffman on April 3. It was not immediately clear if she was facing charges in Arkansas.
The charges Santiago pleaded guilty to included first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon, and child endangerment. She was sentenced to life, or 30 years, for the murder charge, 30 years for the robbery charge, four years for the weapons charge, and seven years for the child endangerment charge, with all sentences to be served concurrently. In total, her sentence is 71 years. As of press time, she remained in custody at the Lawrence County Jail.
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Lawrence County Record
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Mt. Vernon, MO, 65712
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