South Carolina officials have revealed what they determined as the cause of 6-year-old Faye Marie Swetlik’s death. They announced she died from asphyxiation hours after she was abducted. This was declared a homicide. Lexington County coroner Margaret Fisher declined to release more information about Swetlik’s condition, saying this was out of respect for the victim’s grieving family.
The Lexington County Coroner says Faye Swetlik’s cause of death is asphyxiation. The coroner says Swetlik’s death took place within a few hours after her abduction.
— Kendall Morris (@KendallMorrisTV) February 18, 2020
Swetlik’s mother reported her missing on Monday, Feb. 10. Faye was last seen playing in the front yard of their home at about 3:45 p.m.
The search ended in tragedy. Investigators announced Thursday that she was found dead, and this was a homicide investigation. They specified Friday that she was located in a wooded area between her home and a NAPA Auto Parts. Coty Scott Taylor, 30, was found dead at his residence, which is located around 150 feet away from Swetlik’s home. Investigators asserted that these deaths were linked, but largely didn’t explain at first. They said an item was found in a trash can at Taylor’s home. The dead adult was described as just a neighbor, not a friend nor a relative. The Lexington County coroner conducted the autopsies on Saturday. Officials postponed revealing details out of respect for Swetlik’s family.
Faye did not die in the wooded area, and her body was not at that location for long when she was discovered, Fisher said Tuesday.
10a on Thursday morning crews found a child’s rainboot and a soup ladle that had freshly dug dirt on it in a trash can belonging to 602 Picadilly Square. @wis10 That evidence prompted the search of the woods and discovery of Faye Swetlik.
— Caroline Hecker (@CHecker_WIS) February 18, 2020
Cayce Public Safety Director Byron Snellgrove said they got a report of a bleeding man on a patio shortly after Swetlik’s body was found. That individual died. The official said that evidence shows that this person–Taylor–abducted and killed Faye. The suspect moved her body to the wooded area in the early morning of Thursday under the cover of dark, said Snellgrove. Reporters learned after the press conference that Taylor died by suicide.
Out of respect for the family of Faye Swetlik the coroner didn’t even tell us Coty Taylor’s cause of death during that news conference. We got an email later. He committed suicide by cutting himself in the neck and died on his back patio. That was Thursday morning. pic.twitter.com/QSzu3VvFnW
— Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) February 18, 2020
Cayce officials said DNA found in Coty Taylor’s home put Faye Swetlik there. They believe he killed her within hours of abducting her. He was questioned two days later and his home searches but nothing was found until the next day. Her boot was the item found in his trash. pic.twitter.com/w1wRYH0SHT
— Greg Suskin (@GSuskinWSOC9) February 18, 2020
Investigators interviewed Taylor and searched his home with his permission on Wednesday, as part of their wider search, but authorities said they didn’t see evidence at the time that would lead them to believe that he was involved, according to Snellgrove. The suspect had a roommate, but this person wasn’t at the residence that much at the time of this case, and there’s no evidence that this individual knew what was happening, the director said.
Note: Updated to show that officials revealed how Taylor died. We also added more details from the press conference.
[Image via Lexington County Coroner]
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