On June 25, 2001, the body of Ola Mae Wallace, a 39-year-old African American woman, was discovered in an alley along North Sheridan Road in Chicago, Illinois. Wallace was one of several women targeted during a disturbing series of murders that occurred over the summer of 2001. All of the victims were reportedly drug-addicted sex workers, and their deaths bore striking similarities—each woman had been strangled following a sexual encounter.
The investigation into Wallace’s death
eventually led authorities to Kevin Taylor, a 27-year-old African American man who worked as a cook at The Cheesecake Factory on Michigan Avenue. Taylor was arrested on August 21, 2001, after police discovered a timecard bearing his name beneath the body of another victim, Bernadine Blunt. This clue, along with forensic evidence and a surviving victim’s identification, connected Taylor to a string of murders.
Taylor confessed to killing four women, including Ola Mae Wallace, and attempting to murder a fifth. His method involved arranging sexual encounters with the victims, taking them to secluded locations, and then strangling them—often following disputes over payment. Wallace’s body was found partially clothed, consistent with the other cases. The victims were all African American women in their late 30s to early 40s.
In 2006, Taylor was convicted of first-degree murder for one of the killings and sentenced to 50 years in prison. He later pleaded guilty to the murders of Wallace and two other women to avoid the death penalty, receiving a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. As of the latest available records, Taylor remains incarcerated at Menard Correctional Center in Illinois. The case drew attention to the vulnerability of women involved in street-level sex work and prompted warnings from police to others in similar circumstances.
