SAGINAW, Mich. (WJRT) - New charges have been filed in connection to a decade-old Saginaw murder case.
ABC12 covered the murder of 20-year-old Taylor Poling when it occurred in 2010 in addition to the subsequent investigation. While there were promising developments with regard to the hunt for her killer, the case is just now getting its day in court.
20-year-old Taylor Poling loved to rebuild BMX bikes and compete at the local Special Olympics. The Saginaw woman’s smile, friends and family said, could light up a room, a light that was snuffed out all too soon.
It was inside this home on South Tenth Street where police say Poling was shot to death by her then-boyfriend in December of 2010.
Prosecutors formally charged Tyrill Wade this month with open murder and three weapons-related offenses, charges originally filed five years earlier. Investigators were then compelled to drop the case out of a lack of evidence.
Wade spent most of the time since behind bars anyway. An ABC12 investigation revealed a year after the murder, Wade again found himself on Saginaw County law enforcement’s radar. Wade, now 35, was convicted on three counts of criminal sexual conduct, which were listed under force or coercion, in addition to another count citing the victim’s age.
The Michigan Department of Corrections website showed Wade currently serving out another sentence at the Carson City Correctional Facility.
“Statistically, what we know about abusive relationships… is, it really is a sense of life or death for them in that situation.”
Allie Martinez works with Saginaw-based Underground Railroad. The local organization serves as a resource and shelter for victims of domestic violence.
“They’re trying to get you into a situation where they have a hold on you,” Martinez cautioned.
The red flags, Martinez said, include jealousy and attempts to isolate their partner from friends and loved ones, which can–and often does--escalate into violence. That happens more than three million times a year in the US, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Many never see their day in court.
“Anytime we can get justice for perpetrators is a win,” Martinez related. “So often, domestic violence has kind of gone under the radar… to see a decades-old case be taken seriously, that’s a legal precedent for us that’s so encouraging.”
Wade was due back in court September 23 for a pre-exam conference. Count on ABC12 for complete coverage as the case proceeds.
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