Rock Hill police identify murder victim, suspect as estranged spouses. She was a nurse.
A Rock Hill man has been charged with murder in the shooting death of his estranged wife, police said Sunday. Julie Nicole Taylor was found dead in her home on Friday.
Christopher J. Taylor, 47, is accused of killing the 48-year-old woman, said Lt. Michael Chavis of the Rock Hill Police Department.
Julie Taylor was found shot to death around 1:15 p.m. Friday on the couch in her townhome on Winding Way in Rock Hill, York County Coroner Sabrina Gast said.
Christoper Taylor was identified as a suspect soon after the killing. He was later arrested and charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, Chavis said.
Chavis said the Taylors were estranged spouses. County records list them both as owners of the home where the shooting occurred.
Rock Hill physician Bill Alleyne said Julie Taylor was a longtime nurse in Rock Hill who was respected and loved by her peers at Piedmont Medical Center. Taylor worked with Alleyne for more than 20 years, Alleyne said.
The medical community in York County is deeply hurt by Julie Taylor’s death, Alleyne said.
“We all are shocked and saddened by what has happened,” Alleyne said. “Julie was a wonderful person. This is a terrible, awful act.”
A person whom police have not identified found the victim unconscious and called for help Friday, officers said. Detectives determined the woman had been shot and had died at the scene, Chavis said.
The home where the shooting happened — at the intersection of Winding Way and Chanting Bird Drive — was sealed off Friday. The residence is in the Millwood Park neighborhood near Herlong Avenue.
Officers have not said if the gun used in the killing has been seized.
The Herald was the first to report the death investigation shortly after it started Friday after 1 p.m.
Christopher Taylor is being held at the Rock Hill jail pending a first appearance in court. Because a murder conviction carries a sentence of 30 years to life in prison under South Carolina law, Christopher Taylor cannot receive bail in his first court appearance. The weapon charge carries five years in prison for a conviction.
After court, Christopher Taylor will be transferred to the York County jail, Chavis said.
The homicide is the first in Rock Hill in 2020, officials said.
This story was originally published January 19, 2020 at 1:35 PM.
