By: Sharon Aron Baron
The man suspected of murdering a 19-year-old girl he solicited online for a sexual encounter at a Tamarac hotel is now in custody.
On May 25, Brittney Taylor received a ride to the Comfort Suites at 8301 W. Commercial Blvd., where Tyquan Pearson, 25, was temporarily living. That was the last time she was seen alive. Brittney’s brother reported her as a missing person, but Broward Sheriff’s Office detectives assigned to the case quickly learned they were dealing with something more sinister.
Surveillance video from the hotel showed Brittney arriving and entering room 331. About four hours later, Pearson was seen leaving the hotel room pushing a large stroller that carried a blue storage container and other items. Detectives believe Taylor’s lifeless body was inside that container.
Pearson’s unsuspecting girlfriend picked him up from the hotel where he told her he needed to drop off some things at a storage unit. Among those items was the container, which he said was full of clothing and other items to give away.
When detectives interviewed Pearson regarding the disappearance of Brittney Taylor, he said he had solicited her services that afternoon, but when his girlfriend called to say she was on her way back to the hotel, he said he told Taylor to wait until he was gone and to let herself out. According to him, she was gone upon his return.
Homicide detectives descended on a home in Ft. Lauderdale after learning that Pearson could have tried to hide the evidence of his crime at that location. While inspecting the backyard, they noticed a piece of blue plastic coming out of the ground. This was the corner piece of the blue storage container where Taylor’s decomposing remains were found buried in the backyard.
Investigators obtained a warrant for Pearson’s arrest. On June 14, BSO detectives, along with U.S. Marshals and the Norfolk Police Department, located Pearson in Virginia and took him into custody to face one count of first degree murder.
Pearson will be extradited to Broward County and the motive for the murder remains unclear.
