Dante Taylor of Mastic charged with murder of Sarah Goode of Medford

Suffolk prosecutors Saturday charged an ex-Marine from Mastic with the murder of Sarah P. Goode, a 21-year-old single mother whose body was found a month ago near her Medford home.

Dante Taylor, 19, allegedly stabbed Goode multiple times and sexually assaulted her during a June 7 attack in her car and a wooded area nearby.

Prosecutors revealed gruesome details of the killing during Taylor's arraignment in Central Islip, leaving the more than 40 relatives and friends of the victim stunned or sobbing.

Many in attendance in First District Court wore T-shirts emblazoned with Goode's picture.

"Hope you burn in hell!" Nick Giannetto, Goode's brother-in-law, shouted at Taylor before being removed by court officers.

"I'm sick to my stomach," one of the victim's sisters, Elizabeth DeMuria, said afterward.

Goode was attacked sometime between 1 and 3:30 a.m., prosecutors said. She was found naked from the waist down, except for her shoes.

During an autopsy, the medical examiner's office found a piece of metal lodged in Goode's skull, and determined she suffered "multiple sharp, force injuries about her head and torso," Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Janet Albertson said at the arraignment.

Albertson also said semen was recovered from the crime scene, and some of the victim's pulled-out hair was found hanging from a window of her car.

Taylor, who said nothing in court, entered not-guilty pleas through his attorney. He is being held without bail at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.

Taylor was arrested Thursday in Vero Beach, Florida, by Suffolk homicide detectives and U.S. marshals on an unrelated warrant for an attempted knifepoint rape in June 2011, which came to light as police investigated the homicide, police said.

The attempted rape involved an 18-year-old woman and occurred in Taylor's bedroom, according to prosecutors.

Taylor was flown back to Long Island on Friday, authorities said.

Detectives found a "significant amount of blood" in Goode's gray 1999 BMW 328i and two palm prints -- one allegedly belonging to Taylor, and another believed to be Goode's, Albertson said.

In addition, investigators recovered bloodstained clothing belonging to Taylor, Albertson said.

Authorities also linked Taylor to the killing through GPS phone location tracking and phone calls between Taylor and Goode on the night she disappeared, the prosecutor said.

Goode, a medical technician from Medford with a 4-year-old daughter named Jocelyn, was last seen about 1 a.m. June 7 at a friend's house in Shirley, police said. Several friends said they had seen Goode and Taylor "hanging out" among a larger group that night.

Goode's car was found two days later near a wooded area about a mile from her home, police said.

Family and friends searching the area found Goode's partly decomposed body in the brush on June 12.

Police have not provided a motive for the slaying, nor shed any light on connections between Taylor and Goode.

"Sarah knew Dante from the neighborhood," said Giselle Ruano, of Shirley, who knew them both. "They had stuff in common . . . Sarah comes from a big military family and knew a lot about the Marines. Dante had just got back from the Marines. He was angry he had to leave."

Taylor entered active service in the Marine Corps on Sept. 23, 2013, according to a Marine spokesman. His "end of active service" came just seven months later, on April 22, the spokesman said.

The reason for the discharge was not disclosed.

Members of Taylor's family attended the arraignment but declined to comment afterward.

Defense attorney Patrick O'Connell, of Central Islip, speaking on behalf of the Taylor family, said: "Their prayers and heartfelt sympathies go out to the victim and her family."

O'Connell said Taylor was first questioned by police in connection with Goode's disappearance on June 10, two days before her body was discovered. Taylor spent 10 hours in custody before police released him, and he later went to Florida where he has family, the attorney said.

Ryan Bramer, 16, and his mother Edna, who live across the street from Taylor's family, said Taylor used to pick on Bramer -- until he learned the boy's father died.

"When he found out that my husband died, he said to my son: 'I'm so sorry. I didn't know that your dad died,' " she said. "He says, 'I'm very sorry for all the things that I've done to you.' "

One of nine children, Goode graduated from Longwood High School in Middle Island.

About 200 people attended an hourlong vigil in her memory Saturday night at Smith Point County Park in Shirley. Many expressed relief that the alleged killer has been captured.

"We feel better now that they finally arrested him," said Danny Miller, 52, of Setauket, whose son is married to one of Goode's sisters.

Anne Marie Ready, 52, who came from Staten Island, said Goode was her cousin. "We just want justice," she said.