The Untimely Murder of Tawnee Baird

Jul 15

Jul 15 The Untimely Murder of Tawnee Baird

Holladay, Utah is a small town on the outskirts of Salt Lake City. It’s home to just around 30,000 people with notable celebrities like Mitt Romney. So, you could say pretty small, and pretty conservative. The outskirts guarded by mountains, when you look at certain angles you can see the snowfall on top of a few of the peaks. The small city is quaint, there is a website that alone keeps the entire population up to date in what’s happening. They recently banned fireworks this year, and are now prohibiting golf carts to be driven on the main road. In 2014 Holladay was home to 21 year old Tawnee Baird. Tawnee was beautiful with long dirty blond hair and piercing blue-green eyes. She was friendly and her family described her as outgoing and warm. She was close with her parents and loved her friends. She spent most of time hanging out with the people she cared about.

Growing up, Tawnee had dreams of being an actress, her plans took a minor turn in June 2010 when Tawnee was 17 years old. That evening she was driving around with friends, they had been out doing normal mischievous teenager things, light drinking and a little bit of smoking, when the group was pulled over by a police officer. The officer searched the vehicle and found a bong and marijuana in the car. Tawnee being the youngest and only minor feared her friends would get a much longer sentence should they take responsibility for the paraphernalia so she claimed it as her own. Much to her father Casey and her mother’s Dana’s dismay Tawnee plead guilty to possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 90 days in a behavioral health treatment facility.

Tawnee’s days were spent in meetings and therapy sessions, but things took a slight change upwards when she met Victoria Mendoza. Victoria was small and with olive skin and long brown wavy hair. She had large eyes and full lips. She came from a troubled back ground and had been in and out of facilities similar to this one. Her mother was sick with cancer and she reasoned that as the fuel that ignited her behavior. Victoria was quieter, more reserved, and not as friendly as Tawnee. However, the two clicked instantly. And their friendship turned romantic feverishly. Tawnee in the past had dated predominately men, and Victoria mainly dated women. This would be her first if only open relationship with another girl. When Tawnee’s mother Dana came to visit Tawnee introduced Victoria and their relationship took another level now that they were open. Tawnee was released that August and promised to wait for Victoria. Victoria threatened that if Tawnee was intimate with anyone else while she was still in the facility, that it would not end well for Tawnee. Tawnee took it as a passionate lover’s worry instead of a foreshadowing threat. In September Victoria came home and the Baird family welcomed her with open arms.

Tawnee and Victoria were inseparable out in the real world. They spent hours in the house watching tv, listening to music. Victoria didn’t have many friends so when the girls were social they predominately hung out with Tawnee’s friends. Their social medias were flooded with photos of the two and they looked to be in romantic bliss. However as time went on, behind closed doors, the girls argued frequently. Victoria had a jealousy problem, she was insecure about Tawnee’s personality, beauty, and her sexuality. Constantly paranoid over Tawnee leaving her for a man. Victoria was described as manipulative by friends, even cheating once on Tawnee in order to cause premature hurt, as a way of getting back at Tawnee. Victoria was never clear on what exactly Tawnee had done to deserve the bizarre punishment. This led to their first break up. Friends were relieved to spend time with Tawnee alone, and get their friend back. This was short lived as Victoria created a Youtube video apologizing to Tawnee and begging to rekindle the relationship. Tawnee and Victoria got back together with the promise that it would be better this time around. By June 2012 two years into the relationship Victoria’s mother’s battle with cancer came to an end and she passed away. The Baird family welcomed Victoria with open arms allowing her to live with them. Dana even helped Victoria get a job hoping this would limit the seclusion the girls had. Things seemed to be looking up, until they weren’t.

One evening Victoria and Tawnee got into yet another argument, this one like many others became violent resulting in Victoria punching Tawnee in the face knocking out one of Tawnee’s teeth. The next day, the girls made up, it isn’t clear why Tawnee covered for Victoria, maybe it was the fear of Victoria being kicked out, maybe it was just fear in general. But both girls lied to the Bairds about what happened.

The volatile relationship continued into the fall and the evening of October 17th 2014 was like any other. The girls decided to visit one of Tawnee’s friends, Lacey. They went out and had drinks and socialized and things seemed be fine according to Lacey. Until the end of the evening when Victoria became upset and went to the bathroom, explaining she wanted to go home. Late into the night and the early morning Lacey walked the girls to their car, gave them a hug told Tawnee she loved her, and she would see them later on.

That drive home quickly turned tense. Victoria was jealous and upset with Tawnee about her behavior and paranoid with how the relationship had been going. Tawnee had had enough. She told Victoria that she no longer wanted to be together and that their fighting was a clear sign that it may be time for them to go their separate ways. The girls argument while driving down the Odgen turnpike turned volatile. Victoria turned to Tawnee who was driving, pulled out a 4 inch knife from her front pocket, and began stabbing Tawnee. The car was pulled over where the stabbing ensued until Tawnee was unconscious.

Victoria pulled Tawnee into the passenger seat and drove to a parking lot 2484 East Avenue in West Ogden at around 1am. Victoria’s hands trembled as she frantically called her sister, from the parking lot where she exclaimed that she had killed Tawnee and did not know what to do. Her sister immediately called the police. As officers arrived on the scene they saw the two girls sitting in the car, one at the steering wheel and the other in the passenger seat, lifeless and covered in blood. Police took Victoria into custody for questioning.

Victoria admitted to murdering Tawnee, explaining that the impulsive decision came from from an argument that had occurred. Victoria explained that she carried a knife regularly, and that this was an impulse kill, not planned. She had alleged the two had a violent abusive relationship, however as the autopsy was performed this was only proven by bruises solely on Tawnee, marks consisted of scratches, another chipped tooth, and scars. All excluding the stab wounds.

Rumors slowly emerged late in the night and Lacey, called the Baird family around 6am to confirm the worst. She couldn’t believe it she had just been with both girls that evening. Lacey asked Dana if Tawnee had made it home, she wasn’t answering her calls and was anxious to dispel the rumors. Dana made her way to Tawnee’s room where she faced an empty bed. She followed to the driveway where the car was no where to be seen. Just a few hours later police called and informed the Baird family that Tawnee was dead.

21 year old Tawnee Baird was pronounced dead on the scene. The police needed answers. Victoria’s interview was nothing short of chilling and sad. She explained the two had gotten into an argument when she lost control. Victoria was immediately taken into custody.

The Autopsy revealed Tawnee Baird had been stabbed 46 times. Once the pair drove off of Interstate 15 and into a church parking lot, Tawnee bled out and died.

During Victorias’s preliminary hearing after her arrest, she pleaded not guilty and even threatened to kill herself during outbursts. The court hearing began in August. The following February the preliminary hearing occurred and Victoria pled not guilty. On the 27th Victoria’s attorney Mr. Studebaker told the court that he likely would have to drop out of Mendoza’s case if his client could not receive the resources to retain him, but told Judge Bean Thursday, Oct. 1, that he decided to work for Mendoza pro bono. Victoria at the time of the killing, had been financially supported by the Baird family.

On October 1st Victoria changed her plea to guilty stating ““I’m pleading guilty… Doesn’t matter if you’re a battered woman or not, you just don’t stab and kill someone.“

Victoria’s sister testified of the difficult relationship between Baird and Mendoza, indicating that Tawnee was often a primary aggressor in many instances of their relationship. Mr. Studebaker said that information built a defense known as ”battered woman syndrome.“

The Baird family didn’t agree. There wasn’t much evidence outside of Victoria’s sister to support that claim. The idea that Victoria considered herself a victim too disgusted them. Casey Baird’s shock came from not realizing the abuse was occurring in the home. He said that had he known, things between the two girls would have gone much differently. He would never have had Victoria around his daughter. Now that Tawnee was gone, there was no sympathy from the Baird family, Casey stated “ “I don’t even want the death penalty. I want her to suffer and have a lot of time to think about this.”

On November 10th 2015 a year and less than a month after the murder Judge Joseph Bean and a full court room in the 2nd District Court of Ogden at 9:00am and gave the sentencing. At 23 years old, Victoria Mendoza was sentenced to 16 years to life with the ability to be paroled in October 2039. That was the day the Baird family promised to make sure Victoria stayed in jail for the rest of her natural born life.

According to the CDC, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience physical violence by their intimate partner at some point during their lifetime. That’s over 41 million women in America. Domestic Abuse is a serious problem in this country, and is the reason for a lot of murders. It isn’t random attacks, it isn’t kidnapping, it’s the person who sleeps next to you at night, it is the person you are supposed to trust the most. Often times in homosexual relationships people do not believe that domestic violence can occur, especially when it is between women. However is it just as likely and just as valid. The fact is, Tawnee didn’t deserve what happened to her. The violence was occurring in her own home and her family had no idea. This case hit home because it seemed familiar, I have not experience physical abuse personally, but I have witnessed the potential of it, or someone on the brink. I think about that couple every so often, and my fear of how they may turn out.