Boston man charged in young mother's 1988 cold case murder (original) (raw)
Karen Taylor's 3-year-old daughter was present when the young mother was found fatally stabbed in 1988.
A Dorchester man was arraigned Friday in a decades-old cold case, pleading not guilty to first-degree murder as prosecutors accused him of stabbing a young mother to death in 1988.
James Holloman, 65, was arrested Thursday following his murder indictment in the death of 25-year-old Karen Taylor, who was found lying face-down in a pool of blood at her Roxbury apartment.
Taylor had been stabbed a total of 15 times, according to prosecutors. Her 3-year-old daughter was in the apartment when the young woman’s body was discovered on May 27, 1988.
Cold Cases:
When Taylor’s mother called the apartment that afternoon, her granddaughter informed her Taylor was sleeping and she could not wake her, prosecutors said. Taylor’s mother went to the Williams Street apartment, climbed through a first-floor bedroom window, and found her daughter with stab wounds to the chest, head, and neck.
Found near Taylor’s body was a paycheck bearing Holloman’s name, distributed to him the day prior, prosecutors alleged in a court document. Forensic testing of Taylor’s fingernail scrapings also produced a full DNA profile for an unknown man.
“In 2023, Boston Police detectives obtained a sample of the defendant’s DNA after observing him spit on the ground outside his house,” the court filing states. The two samples allegedly matched, and prosecutors said investigators also found Holloman’s DNA profile on a sweatshirt and cigarette discovered in Taylor’s bedroom.
“When questioned in June 1988, Mr. Holloman stated he had not seen Ms. Taylor in the weeks prior to her death,” prosecutors wrote in a statement of the case. “However, Mr. Holloman recently gave a statement to police in which he stated he had seen Ms. Taylor the day of her death, but claimed they did not have a physical altercation.”
Prosecutors did not specify the nature of Holloman’s relationship with Taylor.
Holloman was ordered held without bail Friday and is due back in court Oct. 29. His defense attorney was not immediately reachable for comment Friday.
“This is an example of superb investigative work by detectives and prosecutors using modern criminology science, but most of all it’s an opportunity for Karen Taylor’s loved ones to see someone answer for her death after so many years of unanswered questions,” Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement.
Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.
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