Navy Mom Who Tearfully Reported Her Daughter Missing Now Pleads Guilty to Girl's Murder in Fla. Court

Brianna Williams, the Florida mother who sobbed uncontrollably when she reported her 5-year-old daughter missing in 2019, has pleaded guilty in the girl's brutal death.

On Thursday, former Naval Petty Officer 1st Class Brianna Williams pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of her daughter, Taylor Rose Williams, FirstCoastNews reported.

She had originally been charged with aggravated child abuse, two counts of child neglect, lying to police and tampering with evidence.

She had not been charged with murder before Thursday, Action News Jax reported.

Authorities said Williams had "tortured, maliciously punished or caged" Taylor in the 6 months before she went missing, court records show.

"The apartment of Brianna Williams was thoroughly searched, photographed and evidence was collected," District Attorney Lauren Anderson said in court Thursday. "Obvious signs of neglect and abuse were observed including soiled children's clothing, soiled carpeting, blood and along with partially empty soup and fruit cans that had a tiny hole cut in them."

Williams had used her computer to search for information about starvation and malnourishment, prosecutors said in court Thursday, News4Jax reported.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

Williams had reported Taylor missing from their apartment in Jacksonville on Nov. 6, 2019, prompting authorities to launch a massive search for the little girl.

"As our community has shown over the past few days, there's a lot of love for Taylor here. Even those who have never even met her — and we want you to know that we will do anything we can to bring her home," former FBI Jacksonville Assistant Director Rachel Rojas s told Action News Jax at the time.

Bodycam footage released by police showed a highly distraught Williams crying and shaking as she told an officer that Taylor was nowhere to be found, Al.com reported.

On Thursday in court, Williams appeared "emotionless," FirstCoastNews reported.

On Nov. 6, 2019, she told the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office that she woke up and found the back door unlocked with Taylor nowhere to be found.

A week later, Taylor's badly decomposed body was found in a rural area of Alabama stuffed in a garbage bag and buried in a shallow grave, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.

Authorities said she had died months before her remains were found.

Williams faces a minimum of 20 years to life in prison. Her attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Related Articles

Missing Newlywed Nurse, 32, Found Dead Days After Hawaii Wedding, as Neighbor, 27, Is Charged with Her Murder

Father of Utah Police Officer Accused of Stalking and Killing Her Before Allegedly Fleeing the Country

Man Accused of Smashing 4-Month-Old Baby's Head into Elevator Wall to Get Her to Stop Crying: Reports

N.J. Girl, 4, in Stable Condition After Allegedly Being Stabbed Multiple Times by Family Member During Dispute

Baltimore Man Gets Life in Prison For Strangling, Beating Tech CEO Found Dead on Rooftop of Her Apartment Building

Boy, 7, Died of 'Severe Malnutrition' on Christmas Day. His Family and Caregivers Are Charged in His Death

16-Year-Old Male Cheerleader Dead, 5 Others Injured, After Louisiana House Explosion: 'The Best Person'

SUV Taken for Ride by 6 Children and Teens Crashes into Tree, Killing 11-Year-Old Passenger: 'Heartbroken'

Follow Us

• About Us
• PEOPLE Tested
• Editorial Policy
• Careers
• Privacy Policy
• Contact Us
• Terms of Service
• Advertise
• EU Privacy

We Care About Your Privacy

We and our 100 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.

We and our partners process data to provide:

Store and/or access information on a device. Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Use profiles to select personalised advertising. Create profiles to personalise content. Use profiles to select personalised content. Measure advertising performance. Measure content performance. Understand audiences through statistics or combinations of data from different sources. Develop and improve services. Use limited data to select content. List of Partners (vendors)