Third defendant convicted in the Mother’s Day murder, dismemberment of a young Michigan father of 4

INGHAM COUNTY, Mich. (TCN) -- A 37-year-old man has been convicted in connection with a Mother’s Day 2024 killing and dismemberment. He is the third defendant in the case to be found guilty.

On May 12, 2024, Marcus Hayes and his brother Leonard Hayes got into a fight with 25-year-old Zaccari Taylor at a home in Lansing, Michigan, WILX reports. Taylor was fatally strangled during the altercation, and a third defendant, Terrence Jones, was involved in the dismemberment of Taylor’s body at another location.

Lansing Police Department Detective Matt Salman testified in court that home surveillance footage captured the fight that led to Taylor’s death, WLNS reports. Salman said Marcus Hayes can be seen in the footage watching as his brother strangles Taylor; Marcus Hayes is then seen on the footage continuing to strangle the unresponsive Taylor before dragging him away.

Home surveillance footage also showed both Leonard and Marcus Hayes carrying a body wrapped in a sheet out of the home. Salman testified that the Hayes brothers and Jones discussed what to do with Taylor’s body and decided to dismember it instead of burning the remains, per WLNS.

After the trio was arrested and charged in connection Taylor’s death and dismemberment, WLNS reported that Lansing Police Chief Ellery Sosebee said, “It’s not a good time to be a bad guy in the city of Lansing.”
 
According to the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office, the jury deliberated for less than an hour on Sept. 10 before finding Marcus Hayes guilty of first-degree premeditated murder and mutilation of a body.

Leonard Hayes was convicted and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year, according to WILX. Jones’ charges were reduced to being an accessory after the fact to open murder and/or dead body disinterment as part of a plea deal. 

According to WLNS, all three defendants had lengthy criminal histories at the time of Taylor’s death. Jones was on parole for a murder conviction; Marcus Hayes spent years in prison following convictions for criminal sexual conduct and cocaine possession; and Leonard Hayes also spent time in prison for cocaine possession and firing a weapon toward a building.

Taylor’s obituary describes him as a loving father of four children with a passion for music and an interest in becoming a healer. It reads, “Although Zaccari’s time with us was too short, the memories he created will live on in the hearts of all who knew him.”

Marcus Hayes is scheduled to be sentenced to life in prison on Oct. 20, per WILX.

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