Man sentenced to life for 2013 stabbing of his children's grandmother

A Long Beach man was sentenced March 4 to life in prison for fatally stabbing his children's grandmother in 2013, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. 

A jury in January found Steven Dwayne Brown, 52, guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Kellye Lynnette Taylor, 53.

Taylor, who was an elementary school teacher, was watching her students play at a park on Oct. 11, 2013, when Brown walked up and stabbed her with a kitchen knife, prosecutors said. 

The defense argued that Brown was suffering from mental illness and that he believed Taylor was pulling a gun from her purse. Prosecutors, however, said there was no evidence of a purse or a gun.

In March of that year, the county gave Taylor custody of five children, ages 2 to 17, who had been living with Brown and Taylor's daughter, Tia.

Brown is the biological father of three of the five children Kellye Taylor had in her custody. He was furious about having the children taken away, according to a lawsuit he filed in July 2013 against Long Beach police, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services and several social workers.

“He killed her because he hated her and he hated the way she took care of his children,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Diana Martinez told the jury during closing arguments.

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.