DNA Ties Suspect to Abduction and Slaying, Prosecutor Says

A prosecutor said Wednesday she will use eyewitness accounts and DNA evidence to link Kirell Taylor, 26, of Pacoima, to the 1999 kidnapping and murder of a young Woodland Hills businessman who died after being ejected from the trunk of his stolen Bentley.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Shellie Samuels said police matched Taylor’s DNA with saliva found in one of two ski masks used by Christopher Rawlings’ attackers and left at the crime scene.

Taylor, who is representing himself in court, is charged with eight criminal counts that include murder, carjacking and robbery. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Hoff is presiding over the trial in Van Nuys. It could last three to four weeks.

In her opening statement, Samuels said Taylor and another man were waiting for Rawlings outside his garage about 9 p.m. on Feb. 8, 1999, attacking him after he pulled in.

“You will be convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Kirell Taylor is one of these two men who waited for Christopher Rawlings, put him in the trunk and that drove the car in a fashion that led to his death,” Samuels said.

Rawlings’ widow, Barbie, will testify that on the night of his 30th birthday, he left the house to run an errand and she heard him return about half an hour later. She went to the garage because he was taking too long to reach the house and “she thought she heard voices” in the garage, Samuels said.

Barbie Rawlings stood within eight feet of one intruder who was hovering over her husband on the ground before she realized the potential danger, the prosecutor said. But she cannot identify her husband’s assailants because both men were wearing ski masks.

The wife went into the house to call for help without being noticed by the men, Samuels said. Barbie Rawlings grabbed the telephone and went upstairs to get her two children, ages 1 and 3, and climbed onto the roof to dial 911.

From the roof, Barbie Rawlings watched as someone backed her husband’s Bentley, valued at more than $200,000, out of the driveway and drove off, Samuels said.

Los Angeles police pursued the vehicle in a high-speed chase on surface streets around Woodland Hills. Eventually, the white Bentley slammed into a car and spun, hitting a power pole and knocking out electricity in the area, then crashed into a tree, she said.

“When the Bentley hit the tree, the trunk flew open,” Samuels said. Christopher Rawlings was thrown from the trunk “30 feet head first into a brick wall.” He died two days later, authorities said.

Besides the DNA evidence, Samuels said police found a Cartier panther earring and a matching bracelet, like those stolen from the Rawlings home, in Taylor’s bedroom during a search after his arrest in August 1999. They also found a business card from one of Rawlings’ business partners, she said.

During the trial, Samuels said, she also will present a couple who were sitting in their car after the Bentley crashed and were approached by a man believed to be Taylor who told them, “I’ll give you $1,000 to get me out of the neighborhood.”

They took off before the man could get into their car. But another witness will testify to being carjacked by Taylor as he tried to flee authorities after the crash.

Authorities have charged a second man, Boris George “Booney” Graham, 29, of Pacoima, in the kidnapping and murder, but he has never been apprehended.