Parole denied for man who killed pregnant teen in Kamloops

A 34-year-old man will remain behind bars after nearly a decade in prison for killing his pregnant girlfriend in Kamloops.

The Parole Board of Canada found 16-year-old CJ Fowler’s murderer had “little insight” into why he took her life and remains a “high imminent risk” to harm someone else again, including an intimate partner.

Damien Lawrence Wayne Taylor was convicted of second-degree murder in 2016, four years after Fowler’s body was discovered near Guerin Creek.

He took a bus to Prince George and when initially questioned by police acted surprised at the news. He later offered a confession, then claimed it was fake before heading to a jury trial.

Taylor made his case to the parole board, which also heard from one of Fowler’s parents, who expressed “continual pain” over her death and a longing to know the person she would have become, according to the recently released decision.

“While the victim’s parent tries to find forgiveness, they struggle with your many lies and change in reasoning for your violent actions,” the decision reads.

On March 16, the parole board denied both full and day parole. While he’s been on good behaviour for the past 18 months, he remains a high risk.

Taylor was in his early 20s when he killed Fowler, and he already had a lengthy conviction list that began before adulthood, according to the decision.

They travelled from Terrace to Kamloops in December 2012, planning to sell drugs together. Amid heavy meth use, the plan fell apart. Fowler found out she was pregnant while in Kamloops and after a visit to Royal Inland Hospital planned to return to Terrace.

Fowler and Taylor had an argument at the hospital before heading to the bus station and later made their way to Guerin Creek, where Taylor struck her in the head with a wrench before twice dropping a 56-pound concrete block on her head.

Her airway was crushed and she suffocated, while Taylor left to take a bus out of Kamloops.

An 11-person jury deliberated for hours before returning with a guilty verdict, and he was sentenced in October 2014.

Taylor continues to have anger issues, poor decision-making skills and a “criminally-entrenched attitude,” the parole board decision reads.

He planned to be released to a work program in BC’s Northern Interior to be near his family, but the parole board found he poses too great a risk to the public. The decision also noted Taylor has been diagnosed with a psychotic mental disorder for which he has stopped taking medication.

“It is the board’s opinion that you will, by reoffending, present an undue risk to society if released… and that your release will not contribute to the protection of society by facilitating your reintegration into society as a law-abiding citizen,” the decision concluded.