On February 17, Taylor Frankie Paul – a TikTok influencer with more than 4 million followers – was arrested after being involved in a heated argument with her boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen. The argument quickly turned violent, with Paul allegedly throwing several items at Dakota and hitting him multiple times.
To make matters worse, both of her children – who she shares with her ex-husband – were present during the heated argument. At one point, Dakota was sitting on the couch next to her 5-year-old daughter when Paul started throwing her phone, a playset, and several metal chairs at him – despite being told to stop.
According to a declaration by a Herriman, Utah police officer, one of those ‘heavy, metal chairs’ ended up missing Dakota and hitting her daughter in the face – resulting in her daughter having a ‘painful bump’ on her head. The police department cited video evidence, which showcases much of the argument in detail.
On February 28 – 11 days after her arrest – Taylor Frankie Paul was charged with two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child (one count for each of her children). She was also charged with child abuse (for hitting her daughter), criminal mischief, and aggravated assault for her involvement in the case.
The declaration also revealed that Dakota had ‘redness and swelling around his eyes, swelling on his elbow, scratches on his fingers, and a laceration on his neck’ from Paul’s vicious attack – he was reportedly ‘scared for his life’ after being kicked, placed in a chokehold, and hit on several occasions.
And, while the incident is being treated as an allegation, Sim Gill – a district attorney with Salt Lake County – believes they have enough evidence to move forward with the charges. As of right now, she’s due in court on March 21, and it’s unclear if she hired an attorney to defend her against the allegations.
“There’s a presumption of innocence, but at this point, taking and looking at both the officer’s statements, any video evidence, as well as statements from parties that are involved, we concluded that we have sufficient probable cause for the purposes of warranting the filing of charges,” Gill explained on Tuesday.
Taylor Frankie Paul Recently Complained About Life
The horrific incident comes just a few months after Taylor Frankie Paul took to Instagram to complain about one of the worst years she has had in recent memory. She posted a Christmas photo of her with her family – including her two children, both under 5 years old – coupled with a lengthy caption.
“From rough marriage to swinging, to divorce, to major loss of some family, best friends, friends, my and kids part-time, trying to be in another relationship but can’t let myself be happy, to ectopic pregnancy, to deep depression meanwhile millions of people watched it all and gave their lovey opinions,” she wrote.
She went on to explain how she was hoping for the best in 2023, adding that ‘23 is my number’ and thanking her ‘village’ for staying by her side and always being there for her. Many users have returned to the comments section to express how the post ‘hasn’t aged well’ and how ‘23 isn’t really your number.’
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In November, Taylor Frankie Paul revealed that, while she was pregnant with her third child (first with Dakota), she later learned that it was an ectopic pregnancy – which occurs when a fertilized egg grows outside the main cavity, resulting in an eventual pregnancy loss. She kept it a secret for seven weeks.
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