Taylor Frankie Paul’s mom, Liann May, claimed to police that her granddaughter Indy did not have any injuries after her mom and Dakota Mortensen’s 2023 domestic violence incident.
Following Paul’s arrest, the then-5-year-old was released to Liann and her husband, Jeremy May, when they received a call from an officer with the Herriman City Police Department around 3 a.m.
“Would you do me a favor and check her head, face, whichever, for any sort of goosebumps, scratches, anything like that?” the concerned officer asked Liann in a video of the phone call obtained by TMZ.
“There were some other facts about this case that have kind of come out after the fact,” the officer explained. “It looks like during the altercation, [Indy] got hit in the head with a metal chair.”
The officer pointed out that the young child might have suffered a concussion from the incident, which occurred on Feb. 17, 2023.
“I think she looks fine,” Liann replied. “I saw her.”
After checking on the Indy again, Liann assured the officer, “There’s nothing on her. No bumps or anything.”
The officer then explained to Liann that he was calling her after the arrest because he didn’t realize that the young child was possibly hurt until after reviewing cell phone footage.
“Watch [Indy],” the officer warned. “I’m just worried about injury. I didn’t know this happened until after the fact. Otherwise, I would have probably had paramedics come to check her out. Just to be sure.
“Sometimes child injuries aren’t as obvious as adult ones.”
Liann then assured the officer she would make sure to keep an eye out for any possible injuries.
Despite Liann’s claims that the child wasn’t hurt, Indy’s father, Tate Paul, alleged that she had suffered a small injury to her head during Taylor and Mortensen’s altercation.
Tate described the injury as a “goose egg” but acknowledged he couldn’t take a picture of the bump because it was small and covered by Indy’s hair, per an audio recording of Tate talking to police obtained by People.
Elsewhere in the phone call — which took place on Feb. 24, 2023 — he accused Liann of “coaching” Indy to make Taylor look better throughout the investigation into the domestic violence incident.
“The grandmother, is, you know, obviously there’s a conflict of interest with her because it’s her daughter that did this,” Tate said.
“I’ve noticed she’s already tried gatekeeping — not gatekeeping — but, like, she’s coaching my daughter and saying specific things,” Tate alleged.
He also asked the police to contact him rather than Liann regarding the investigation.
Taylor and Tate were married from 2019 to 2022 and share Indy, 9, and son, Ocean, 5.
Although the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star’s fight with Mortensen occurred three years ago, it made headlines earlier this month when a video of the shocking fight was leaked.
In the disturbing footage, a seemingly drunk Taylor and her then-boyfriend were fighting inside her Utah home, and Indy appeared to get struck by a metal barstool Taylor had thrown at Mortensen during the incident.
Paul later pleaded guilty to one felony count of aggravated assault, which will be reduced to a misdemeanor once she finishes her three-year probation.
Additional charges, including two felony counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child and one misdemeanor count each of child abuse and criminal mischief, were ultimately dismissed.
ABC, meanwhile, canceled Taylor’s season of “The Bachelorette” in the wake of the leaked video.
The Hulu star also temporarily lost custody of her 2-year-old son, Ever, whom she shares with Mortensen.
Police are currently investigating two other instances of alleged domestic violence between Paul and Mortensen: One that occurred in 2024 and one that took place last month — which also halted “SLOMW” from filming.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
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