A Missouri man has been charged with murder after his girlfriend revealed he convinced her to kill the man she cheated on him with.
Cordero T. Cervantes, 35, now stands accused of murder in the second degree, according to charging documents filed on Monday in Platte County Circuit Court.
On Oct. 28, 2022, the defendant was indicted by a grand jury on one count each of tampering with evidence, and tampering with a motor vehicle. The new and old charges are in connection with the June 2022 death of 31-year-old Taylor Hawkins. At the time, however, a different individual was charged with the murder.
Moreover, in October 2022, McKayla C. Archambeau, 25, was charged with one count each of murder in the second degree, armed criminal action, tampering with evidence, and tampering with a motor vehicle.
Cervantes and Archambeau were in a Relationship
The incident took place at a residence on Oberdiek Lane in Platte City — a small town roughly 25 miles northwest of Kansas City, Missouri. According to a witness identified as the victim's friend, Archambeau shot Hawkins behind a barn on the property.
When deputies arrived at the scene, they found a "31-year-old white male who had been shot in the yard of the residence," the Platte County Sheriff's Office said in its initial press release asking for the public's help in locating Archambeau and Cervantes. The two, in a relationship, were said to be considered "armed and dangerous."
At the time, details were limited but during the course of the year-long investigation, a witness came forward with key details of the moments leading up to the fatal shooting.
The witness and the victim were unloading boxes at the residence when Cervantes and Hawkins began arguing about something, according to the probable cause statement. Then, the two of them went off by themselves – to the back of the barn – to hash things out.
The witness remembers Hawkins being upset and saying, "No, why'd you do it?" before a shot rang out. Moments later, Cervantes allegedly emerged from behind the barn "with a smirk on his face," the witness told investigators. The witness said he then ran for his life.
Hawkins and Archambeau Allegedly Had a Sexual Encounter a Week Before the Shooting
Later, law enforcement determined Hawkins and Archambeau had sex with one another roughly a week before the shooting, according to the probable cause statement. The victim apparently believed such non-monogamous exploits were a sign the woman was going to leave Cervantes and begin a committed romantic relationship with him.
Authorities also learned Archambeau and Cervantes were in an on-again, off-again relationship wherein the woman would often leave the man and return to ex-boyfriends, according to court documents.
Cervantes Allegedly Manipulated Archambeau into Shooting Hawkins, Told Her She Needs to 'Finish Him'
Cervantes allegedly encouraged Archambeau to shoot Hawkins, law enforcement claim. She herself allegedly told detectives her boyfriend said "he needs to go" and to "finish him," according to the probable cause statement. Cervantes and Archambeau allegedly fled the state after the shooting but were later arrested in Arkansas.
Hawkins initially told investigators she shot Hawkins in the back after he lunged at Cervantes with a knife but revealed the jealousy narrative during an interview with detectives September.
"[H]e wanted me to be the one to kill Taylor because I was the one that had slept with him," Archambeau told law enforcement. "[Cervantes] was mad and made me kill him."
Cervantes was released on probation after previously pleading guilty to one count of tampering with a motor vehicle; he is not currently in custody and a warrant is out for his arrest. In August 2025, Archambeau pleaded guilty to all the counts against her. Sentencing in her case is slated for Nov. 14.
