The man accused of killing a University of Kentucky chef and putting his body in the Kentucky River has been sentenced to 49 years in prison.
Taylor was convicted of killing Alex Johnson in December of 2013. The prosecutor told the jury that Taylor had lured Johnson to his car where he beat him to death.
During the trial, Taylor admitted to being in the car and helping clean up after Johnson died, but he said he tried to revive Johnson that night. Timothy Ballard, who had pleaded guilty to kidnapping Johnson and tampering with evidence told the court that he hit Johnson twice but didn’t kill him.
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“We know his explanation of what is happening in that parking lot. It is not a friend trying to save a friend, it is a friend killing a friend in the most brutal way and disposing of his body in the most horrible way,” said Prosecutor Lou Anna Red Corn.
The jury recommended a 49 year sentence for the murder of Johnson with 22 years for Murder, 22 years for kidnapping and five for tampering with evidence, all to be served consecutively. The judge agreed to take the jury’s recommendation in the case.
It was little consolation for Johnson’s family, who wanted a harsher sentence for Taylor.
“Our son is dead and we cant bring him back, so I don’t really care what happens to Mark Taylor. I really wished he’d be put to death,” Lee Johnson, Alex Johnson’s father, told LEX 18.
Taylor will be eligible for parole in 20 years.
