She Smiled in her Mugshot - The Brutal Murder of Eugene and Celeste McDaniel

Fraulein Motte
8 min readNov 18, 2023

On March 23, 2020, the lifeless bodies of Celeste and Eugene McDaniel were discovered in their residence in Camden, Tennessee. The killer? Their 28-year-old granddaughter, Katelyn D. Taylor.

What happened and why?

Eugene, a 82-year-old retired hospital engineer, and Celeste, a 67-year-old beloved nurse, had been married since 1982 and lived their entire lives in Camden, TN.

Celeste had one daughter, Carrie Lynn, born in 1971. Then, on October 4th, 1991, Katelyn Danielle Taylor was born to her parents Carrie and Daniel L. Taylor in Mississippi.

While details about Katelyn’s early years are limited, social media comments from individuals purporting to have knowledge of Katelyn’s childhood suggest a challenging upbringing, potentially influenced by her mother’s struggles with drug addiction. Despite these difficulties, comments on Facebook also indicate that the McDaniels played a supportive role in Katelyn’s life, portraying them as caring grandparents who offered assistance in any way they could.

In August 2012, then-21-year-old Katelyn gave birth to her son Cooper. While her Instagram profiles paint a picture of a loving mother with her young child, Katelyn eventually lost custody of Cooper to his biological…

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Fraulein Motte

I'm an independent writer based in Tennessee, USA. I specialize in covering true crime and other related topics. Contact: frauleinmotte@gmail.com