A St. Paul woman accused of aiding her former boyfriend in an elaborate sex-trafficking operation involving a minor was released from jail this week after a jury failed to reach a verdict in her case.
Laqueshia Danekia-Kay’D Moran, 23, had been charged with soliciting a minor to practice prostitution, promoting the prostitution of a minor and engaging in sex trafficking of a minor, as well as two counts of promoting prostitution of an adult.
She was released from custody Thursday after roughly a weeklong trial when Ramsey County jurors deadlocked in deliberations on her guilt of the five felony-level charges against her. Jurors deliberated for two days.
Moran had been in jail since her arrest on the charges in May of 2016.
Moran’s attorney, Anthony Lavell Brown, declined to comment on the outcome. While the Ramsey County attorney’s office maintains the right to recharge Moran, he explained that “there is just no value in agitating the state.”
A spokesman for the Ramsey County attorney’s office said no decision had been made yet on “how best to proceed with the case.”
A hearing has been set to discuss the matter further on April 25.
The case was a rarity in Ramsey County, where it’s more common for men than women to face charges related to sex-trafficking.
Moran’s former boyfriend, Darryl Taylor, was found guilty for his role in the sex-trafficking scheme, which took place between the summer of 2015 and the winter of 2016 out of two St. Paul residences, one on the 600 block of Park Street and another on the 600 block of Wells street.
The 45-year-old was convicted by Ramsey County District Court Judge Leonardo Castro after a court trial in January of three counts of engaging in the sex trafficking of an individual.
Taylor and Moran were accused of soliciting three individuals, one a minor, to work as prostitutes out of the two homes.
They reportedly posted hundreds of pictures on Backpage.com aimed at soliciting johns to pay for sex, according to the complaints filed against them. Many of the pictures were of Moran, but some reportedly showed the other three. Investigators say they traced the numbers used to place the ads back to Moran and Taylor’s phones, according to the complaints.
The 17-year-old lured into the operation was forced to have sex with about 10 men a day for about three weeks, the complaints said. She told police she gave the money she was paid to “Queesha” in exchange for being allowed to live in the couple’s home. Police later determined that “Queesha” was Moran.
She also said that Moran and Taylor were “working together,” according to the complaint, with Moran telling her what to do in her interactions with “johns” while Taylor handled communication.
The girl said Moran also had sex with men for money at the time, according to the complaints.
A 23-year-old woman told police she began working as a prostitute out of Taylor’s home and that he offered her heroin and later told her he would “front” her more if she came back to his apartment, according to the criminal complaints.
She told officers Taylor kept her high on heroin over the next six months, waking her when a “date” showed up.
Interviewed shortly before her arrest in May of 2016, Moran admitted to working as a prostitute along with the 17-year-old, but said she never posted pictures of anyone but herself on Backpage.com. She also said the 17-year-old had lied to her about her age.
Taylor is scheduled to be sentenced for his convictions March 16.