THE TRAGIC STORY OF TOYIN SALAU

The 19-Year-Old Nigerian-American Activist Who Disappeared After Speaking Out About Sexual Assault

Oluwatoyin “Toyin” Salau was 19 years old.

She was young, outspoken, and deeply passionate about justice.

In the summer of 2020, as protests over the killing of George Floyd swept across the United States, Toyin was one of the young people standing in the streets of Tallahassee, Florida.

She spoke about racism.

She spoke about police brutality.

Furthermore, she spoke about the lives of Black people.

And she was determined to be heard.

But just days after participating in protests, Toyin disappeared.

Nine days later, she was found dead.

Her death would expose a horrifying chain of events involving another missing woman, a man who would eventually confess to the killings, and a young woman who had reportedly reached out for help after being sexually assaulted.

Who was Toyin Salau?

Toyin was a Nigerian-American, born and raised in Tallahassee.

She graduated from Lincoln High School in 2018.

After high school, she studied cosmetology at Lively Technical College and developed interests in hairdressing, modelling, fashion, and beauty.

She was also interested in law and social justice.

According to her obituary, Toyin enrolled at Tallahassee Community College in 2019 and intended to eventually study law at Florida A&M University. Her interest in law was connected to her concern about injustice in society. Legacy

She was also deeply involved in her church and had been close to her family.

But by 2020, another part of her identity had become increasingly prominent: activism.

The Summer of Protests

The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May 2020 sparked protests across the United States.

Tallahassee was no exception.

Toyin became involved in the local Black Lives Matter movement.

Friends remembered her as someone who was passionate about social justice and unafraid to speak publicly about issues affecting Black people. WCTV reported that she had been interviewed during one of Tallahassee's demonstrations against police brutality on May 29. https://www.wctv.tv

She was only 19, but she had already found something she cared deeply about.

She wanted change.

Furthermore, she wanted justice.

And she was willing to use her voice.

Then came June 6.

The Tweets

On June 6, Toyin posted a series of messages on X (formerly known as Twitter) describing what she said had happened to her that morning.

She said a man had offered to help her get to a church where she had been staying and retrieve her belongings.

Instead, she said he sexually assaulted her.

The posts were disturbing and desperate.

Toyin was also experiencing housing instability at the time, making her circumstances particularly vulnerable. Contemporary reports noted that she had been staying at a church and was trying to find somewhere to sleep. TheCable

And then she disappeared.

That was the last day anyone would reliably see her alive.

Her Friends Start Searching

Toyin was reported missing.

Her disappearance immediately concerned people who knew her.

Friends and community members began searching for her.

On June 10, people gathered in Tallahassee to search areas where she was believed to have been seen.

Volunteers went door-to-door.

Others searched on foot.

Her photograph circulated online.

People who had never met her began sharing her name.

But there was another missing person.

Victoria “Vicki” Sims.

Sims was 75 years old and was known in the Tallahassee community for her volunteer work.

Two women from very different generations had disappeared around the same period.

Neither would come home.

The Discovery 

On June 13, police discovered them in southeast Tallahassee.

Two bodies were found.

One was Toyin.

The other was Victoria Sims.

Both deaths were investigated as homicides. ABC News.

The discovery shocked the community.

Toyin had gone from being a young activist protesting for justice to becoming the subject of a desperate search for a missing person.

Now she was dead.

And investigators had to determine who had killed her.

Enter Aaron Glee.

Police quickly focused on a man named Aaron Glee Jr.

Investigators were led to Glee's home on Monday Road, where the bodies were discovered.

Glee had already fled the area.

He was eventually arrested in Orlando after leaving Tallahassee by bus. ABC News.

The case became even more disturbing when investigators began reconstructing what had happened.

Court documents later reported that Glee confessed to killing both Toyin and Victoria.

According to the documents, police found Victoria Sims' body inside Glee's home, while Toyin's body was found outside in a wooded area. WRTV

Investigators said Glee had made statements admitting that he had murdered two women.

The Connection Between Toyin and Glee

One of the most tragic aspects of the case was how Toyin came into contact with her killer.

According to court documents reported by local media, Glee encountered Toyin after she told him she had been sexually assaulted and needed somewhere to stay.

Instead of receiving the safety she required, she was taken into a situation that ultimately became deadly.

This makes the timing particularly heartbreaking.

Toyin had already reported being sexually assaulted.

She was vulnerable.

She was trying to find safety.

And within days, she was dead.

It is important, however, to distinguish the initial sexual assault Toyin reported from the later murder investigation. Early reporting made clear that investigators were still determining the circumstances of that assault, and the person Toyin initially described was not necessarily the same person responsible for her murder.

Victoria Sims

Toyin was not the only victim.

Victoria Sims was 75.

She had been reported missing around the same time and was known in the Tallahassee community for her volunteer work.

Her death initially appeared to be a separate missing-person case.

Instead, investigators discovered that both women had become victims of the same man.

That connection made the case a double homicide.

And it meant two families were suddenly dealing with an unimaginable loss.

The Courtroom Battle

Unlike the Decker case, Toyin's story eventually reached a courtroom conclusion.

Glee was charged with murder and kidnapping.

For years, the case remained part of the Tallahassee legal system.

In 2023, prosecutors and Glee reached a plea agreement.

Glee plod guilty in exchange for the state removing the death penalty from consideration. Prosecutors said the agreement provided greater certainty than pursuing a death sentence that could result in years of appeals. https://www.wctv.tv

On September 22, 2023, Glee was sentenced to life in prison.

His sentence followed emotional statements from members of Toyin and Victoria's families.

For Toyin's family, the sentencing could never restore what had been taken from them.

But it finally provided a legal conclusion to a case that had haunted them for years. https://www.wctv.tv

Remembering Toyin Beyond the Crime

One of the problems with true-crime stories is that victims can eventually become reduced to the circumstances of their deaths.

Toyin was much more than that.

She was a daughter.

A sister.

A student.

A young woman interested in law.

A cosmetology student.

A creative.

A Nigerian-American.

A Christian.

An activist.

And a 19-year-old who believed strongly enough in justice to stand in the streets and demand it.

Her obituary described her as someone who wanted independence and self-sufficiency and who cared deeply about injustice. Legacy

Friends remembered her passion for social justice.

Her family remembered her warmth.

And the Tallahassee community remembered the young woman who had found her voice during one of the most turbulent periods in recent American history.

The Painful Irony

Perhaps the most heartbreaking part of Toyin's story is the contradiction at its centre.

She spent her final weeks fighting for the safety and dignity of other people.

She spoke publicly about injustice.

Furthermore, she stood up against police brutality.

Furthermore, she demanded that Black lives be valued.

Yet when Toyin herself became vulnerable, she required someone to protect her.

Instead, according to the prosecution's case, she encountered someone who exploited that vulnerability.

Her story therefore became bigger than one murder.

It became part of a much larger conversation about violence against Black women, sexual violence, homelessness, and the vulnerabilities faced by young women who are trying to find safety.

And that is why, years later, people still remember her name.

Oluwatoyin Salau.

Not simply because she was murdered.

But because she had a voice.

And she used it.

Also Read: Nobody Talks About Missing the People You Had to Leave