A Former Navy Veteran Reported Her 5-Year-Old Girl Missing in Florida. She Killed the Child and Ditched the Remains in Another State.

A mother in Florida called police to say her daughter was missing and the backdoor was unlocked. It turned out she was the killer and dumped the remains in another state days earlier.

Now, the mom will spend decades behind bars.

A judge sentenced Brianna Williams to life in prison for the 2019 killing of her 5-year-old daughter, Taylor Williams, according to the Fourth Judicial Circuit State Attorney’s Office.

As FrontPageDetectives previously reported, Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

On Nov. 6, 2019, Williams called the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office to report her daughter missing and the backdoor to her home unlocked, according to prosecutors. That sparked a massive search effort.

The search ended when Williams became uncooperative with law enforcement and lied about several events.

Williams had traveled to a remote area of Alabama in the days before reporting the child missing and stayed for a few days, prosecutors said. About a week after the missing child report, the victim’s remains were found in Alabama.

“Brianna Williams’ elaborate lies initially concealed her terrible crime in the murder of her innocent daughter,” said State Attorney Melissa Nelson. “The dogged work by law enforcement and prosecutors brought the truth to light and, ultimately, justice was served for Taylor.”

During a sentencing hearing, Williams’ attorney read a statement from the murderer. She admitted that she lied to investigators about what happened, according to the Florida Times-Union.

"I failed as a mother, a protector and as a decent human being," the statement read, according to the Times-Union. "... and I didn't take advantage of any timely opportunity to right my wrongs. I apologize to everyone affected by this tragedy. I am punished every day since losing my baby."

The judge noted that Williams had no criminal history and had served in the Navy. That made her case unusual.

"She then lied to law enforcement repeatedly over the course of investigation in order to conceal what she had done, which was to transport the body out of state and dispose of the body, which this court construes as the consciousness of guilt,” Judge Kevin Blazs said, according to the report.