Neighbors complained about a terrible smell. Weeks later, a man was accused of murdering his mom and half brother

The suspect reportedly tried to flee the home once officers arrived

The townhome that Mark Taylor shared with his late mother and brother. Police now believe he murdered them (KTVU)

California police arrested a man after finding the bodies of his mother and brother decomposing in his home.

On October 16, officers with the Antioch Police Department responded to a request for a welfare check. Upon arrival, they discovered the bodies of a man and woman in the “advanced stages of decomposition,” according to a news release put out by the department.

Mark Taylor, 46, was reportedly trying to leave the home when officers arrived. Police later determined Taylor is the son of the dead woman and half-brother of the male victim.

Following an initial investigation, officers now believe Taylor murdered his mother and half-brother. He was arrested on two counts of murder and booked into the Contra Costa County Detention Facility in Martinez.

The crime remains under investigation.

One of the man’s neighbors told KTVU he noticed a foul odor coming from Taylor’s residence.

“We thought there was a dead rodent or something happened inside my unit,” the neighbor, who did not want to be identified, told the outlet.

“It’s been a month already that we still smell it, so we thought it was going to be a big dead animal.”

Police told the outlet they had previously responded to the residence following an altercation between the man and his brother. Another neighbor said the mother lost her husband 20 years ago and had been living in the home with her sons.

She was friendly and would bring over holiday cookies and soup, they said. Her neighbors hadn’t seen her for months.

“She used to park her car here. She was cool, never seemed to be bothered about anybody,” another neighbor who also wished to be anonymous told the outlet.