Overview
- Platte County Prosecutor Eric Zahnd announced the second-degree murder charge Tuesday and said Cervantes is wanted on a warrant, with a request that he be held without bond if arrested.
- Court documents cite a witness who reported a gunshot behind a barn, heard Taylor Hawkins shout, “No! Why’d you do it?” and alleged Cervantes encouraged McKayla Archambeau to shoot.
- Investigators say Cervantes and Archambeau left Missouri after the June 2022 shooting and were arrested later that year in Arkansas.
- Archambeau pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August 2025 and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 14.
- The upgraded charge followed years of investigative work; Cervantes had earlier pleaded guilty to tampering with a motor vehicle and was placed on five years of probation.