A Missouri woman is behind bars after confessing to shooting her estranged husband, her ex-boyfriend and her ex’s new girlfriend in a homicidal spree across two states.
Taylor Santiago, 31, pulled into the Aurora Police and Fire Facility parking lot at 1:45 a.m. last Thursday and told them she “had just murdered her estranged husband, Troy Huffman, at her residence,” the Aurora-Marionville Police Department said in a statement.
Santiago was taken into custody after which officers were dispatched to her apartment, where they found Huffman’s body.
Santiago allegedly lured Huffman to her home by saying he could see the 12-year-old son they shared, according to an affidavit obtained by People. Telling the boy to cover his ears, she went into another room and fatally shot Huffman twice.
But Santiago wasn’t done. After gunning Huffman down, she grabbed his car keys and drove to Carroll County, Arkansas, about 50 miles away, where she shot her ex-boyfriend and his partner. Her ex was the biological father of another one of her children, police said.
Authorities responding to a disturbance report found the two victims, a man and a woman, the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office said. The man was hospitalized in serious condition, while the woman was pronounced dead. Police did not identify either victim.
Santiago told police the idea to kill her ex-husband, her former boyfriend and his current partner had come to her as she grabbed a cup of coffee at a convenience store late Wednesday, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.
The motive may have been related to custody issues regarding the two children, Aurora Police Chief Wes Coatney told KYTV.
“I wish she would’ve come to us before she did all of this so we could’ve helped her,” Coatney told the station.
Santiago has been charged in Missouri with first-degree murder, robbery, unlawful use of a weapon and endangering the welfare of a child. It was not immediately clear on Tuesday what charges she faces in Arkansas.
She’s currently being held without bail at the Lawrence County Jail.
