‘Best daughter you could have’: S.C. mom demands answers in death
SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - The mother of a young woman found dead near a Charlotte creek in December is demanding answers surrounding the disappearance and death of her daughter, Ta’Haley Payton.
Payton, who lived in Simpsonville, left home on Nov. 19, 2024 with her boyfriend to celebrate her 22nd birthday. She was reported missing on Nov. 20, the same day her boyfriend reportedly left her in Charlotte after they had a fight. Her body was discovered a few weeks later.
“Ever since she was a little girl, she always photographed well, always. And you just want to pick up the phone and you can’t call her,” Stephanie Crawford, Payton’s mom, said through tears.
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“She’s loving, caring, she’ll give you her last dollar. She’s your best auntie, your best friend, best sister, best daughter you could have,” she described.
Crawford said out of her seven children, Payton was the silly one. Now, she wears a shirt with Payton’s picture.
“That’s all I wear is her shirt because I’m going to keep fighting for her,” she explained. “I’m lost because we don’t know what happened to her.”
Crawford agonized over daughter’s disappearance for weeks until her body was finally discovered Dec. 9 in an open area near Pearl Street Park in Charlotte. According to a police report, the person who called said they saw what looked like a human body in the “waters of the tributary of Upper Little Creek.”
“She doesn’t just end up in the lake butt-naked. Like, where are her clothes at? Her body has been found, but justice has not been done for her,” Crawford said.
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Two drugs were found in Payton’s system, according to her autopsy examination. Officials say they found bromazolam, a non-pharmaceutical benzodiazepine, as well as isopropanol, known more commonly as rubbing alcohol. The report says the drugs were below lethal levels. Ultimately, officials say she died from hypothermia, and her death was ruled an accident.
“Somebody dies from hypothermia. They didn’t drown. With no clothing. How is that accidental?” Crawford asked.
Crawford says her family is pursuing a private autopsy. In the meantime, she is busy helping raise Payton’s 9-month-old daughter.
“She would have been a real great mom, and her daughter is missing out on a real great person.”
News 12′s sister station FOX Carolina reached out to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for more information on Payton’s case.
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