Grandfather says family coping with girl’s brutal death

The grandfather of a murdered 15-year-old LaPlace girl says he is pleased with the arrest of a suspect in the case of her death.

Paradis resident Teddy Adams’ granddaughter, Taylor Adams, was found beaten to death in her home in LaPlace on Dec. 5. Officials said there was no sign of forced entry into the home, no sign of robbery and no sign that she had been sexually assaulted.

On Dec. 8, Earnest Joseph III, 27, was arrested in the case and charged with first-degree murder.

“I was very pleased with the arrest and I just hope everything else goes as good,” Adams said.

Officials said that Joseph was staying with relatives who lived down the street from Taylor’s home and that Joseph and Taylor knew each other, but they would not give any more information.

Adams said that his granddaughter’s death was very unexpected and that she had a lot of friends and was always very sociable. He said the family is coping as well as can be expected.

Taylor was a sophomore at Riverside Academy in Reserve. A crowd of people attended Taylor’s funeral on Dec. 11, including many of her classmates and friends who were shocked by her death and described her as an outgoing and nice girl.

She died of massive blunt force trauma, according to the coroner. Investigators believe that she died sometime between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m. on the morning she was found by her mother when she came home from working a night shift.