MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We’re working to find out more about the history of a man accused of sodomizing and killing a 19-year-old at her Fox Meadows apartment.

The details of Taliyah Hilliard’s death are graphic and brutal. Cederika Hopkins made the disturbing discovery last month after her friend didn’t show up for work as a manager at Family Dollar.

“He had beat her and broke her arm and all this stuff, so he did a whole lot of damage to her,” she said.

But Memphis Police records show 36-year-old Deangelo Bridges was booked on charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, theft, and tampering with evidence this week.

Detectives detailed in an affidavit Bridges took an Uber to Hilliard’s apartment, sodomized then killed her, and tried to clean up her body with soap. Investigators said she had bruising around her neck and chest.

Officers said they were able to track Bridges down by surveillance video and saw he was dropped off in an Uber. They then tracked it to Bridges’ sister’s home.

Hilliard’s family said she had just started dating and living on her own, and she barely knew Bridges.

“And that’s the sad part, like she didn’t know anything about his past, and that’s something that cost her,” said her father Dominique Hilliard.

His past has more alarming information police uncovered.

When investigators brought Bridges in for questioning this week, they discovered he is a registered sex offender out of Holly Springs, Mississippi. He has been living in Memphis since December, and has not registered as a sex offender with the Memphis Police Department. 

We did some more digging and discovered he’s also a convicted sex offender out of Illinois. He pled guilty to predatory criminal sexual assault in 2011.

In this tragic case, Hilliard’s friend has this warning. 

“Don’t just let your guard down with these people because they’ll do anything to you. You never know,” Hopkins said.

We are working to learn the details about that case in Illinois and have been communicating with officials in Mississippi to find out the details in that case as well. We also reached out to Family Dollar for comment.