BY ERIKA BERAS, SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN AND OSCAR CORRAL
[email protected]
Washington Redskins defensive back Sean Taylor died Tuesday morning, a day after he was shot by an intruder at his home in Palmetto Bay.
He was 24.
The onetime standout with the University of Miami died at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, where he was airlifted after the shooting Monday morning.
He suffered massive blood loss. Surgery conducted later in the afternoon could not save him.
The gunman remained on the loose.
"This is just such a tragic, horrible, unnecessary death -- another example of the incessant violence in this city and this country,'' Richard Sharpstein, Taylor's attorney, said early Tuesday morning. AT THE SCENE
Police said Miami-Dade patrol officers received the call that Taylor had been shot about 1:45 a.m. Monday.
Among the first responders was George Mira Jr., who lettered as a linebacker at UM from 1984-87 and is now a fire battalion chief. Detective Juan Villalba, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said police were interviewing relatives who were potential witnesses.
Sharpstein said the couple's baby daughter was also in the bedroom and slept through the shooting. The gunman fled immediately after firing.
''Nothing was stolen. They shot at him and fled,'' Sharpstein said.
Only eight days before, according to police records, someone had broken into Taylor's house between 7 p.m. Nov. 17 and midnight Nov. 18. The intruder, who pried open a front window, entered several rooms and rifled through drawers and a safe in the bedroom.
No one was home at the time; the police report says it was unknown whether anything was taken. In that incident, someone left a kitchen knife on a bed, the police report says. Damage to the A/C vent in Taylor's bathroom was observed, the report said.
Retirees Pat and Jim Smith, who live next door to Taylor, said they heard voices outside about 2:30 a.m. Monday. Outside, Jim Smith talked to a woman with a baby in her arms who he believes is Taylor's nanny. She mentioned the previous break-in.
''I am going to make sure my gun is loaded,'' Jim Smith said. ``We never did have any problems here.''
PLAYING CAREER
Taylor, a graduate of Gulliver Preparatory School in Pinecrest, was chosen by the Redskins as the fifth pick overall in the National Football League's 2004 draft.
He signed a seven-year, $18 million contract after his junior year at UM, when his nine interceptions were the most in the Big East Conference and second in the nation.
At UM, he was an All-American, a Jim Thorpe Award finalist for best defensive back in the nation and the Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
This season, he was sidelined indefinitely Nov. 11 when he sprained his right knee against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Redskins lost to the Buccaneers in Tampa on Sunday.
Redskins Vice President Vince Cerrato, Redskins owner Dan Snyder and running back Clinton Portis flew on the owner's plane to Miami on Monday.
''Our hearts and prayers go out to Sean and his family,'' Snyder told The Associated Press. ``We appreciate very, very much the outcry of support.''
UM officials also weighed in, saying ``this is a terrible thing to have happened to a great person, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and teammates.''
Taylor is no stranger to controversy.
Before he was drafted, he was rebuked by the NFL for leaving the league's mandatory rookie symposium early, and drew a $25,000 fine.
ASSAULT CASE
He was arrested in June 2005 on felony charges of waving a gun at people he believed had stolen his all-terrain vehicle. He later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and battery. Sharpstein said Taylor was the victim and that he should not have been charged.
After the plea, Ryan Lee Hill, a member of the group that Taylor had allegedly accosted, sued Taylor. In the suit, which is pending, Hill claimed Taylor hit him repeatedly in a fight and brandished a gun at him, and said he had lost wages and had medical bills because of injuries.
''Totally garbage and untrue,'' Sharpstein said Monday of Hill's account.
After the fight, Taylor, friend Michael McFarlane and a man named Charles Caughman went to McFarlane's house in West Perrine, according to court records of the incident. Soon afterward, a silver car pulled up to McFarlane's house and someone opened fire, peppering Taylor's GMC Yukon Denali with bullets. Police found 27 bullet casings outside, and at least 15 shots hit Taylor's car. No one was hit, and the shooting remains unsolved.
McFarlane has since moved out of the small ranch home on Southwest 104th Avenue. The current renter on Monday showed a visitor bullet holes that remain over a front window.
CHANGING HIS LIFE
Taylor's cousin, Florida State University safety Anthony Leon, said Taylor was trying to shed some troublemaking friends he had grown up with. Leon, who said he spent his morning crying and praying in his dorm room, said Taylor had ``started to calm down.''
''He's been trying to stay away from bad company -- especially for his daughter's sake,'' Leon said. ``Sean wasn't a bad guy at all. He's got his personality on the football field and off it. All he was trying to do was protect his family. And they shot him.''
Miami Herald staff writers Patricia Mazzei, Manny Navarro, Evan S. Benn and Susannah A. Nesmith contributed to this report.
[email protected]
Washington Redskins defensive back Sean Taylor died Tuesday morning, a day after he was shot by an intruder at his home in Palmetto Bay.
He was 24.
The onetime standout with the University of Miami died at Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center in Miami, where he was airlifted after the shooting Monday morning.
He suffered massive blood loss. Surgery conducted later in the afternoon could not save him.
The gunman remained on the loose.
"This is just such a tragic, horrible, unnecessary death -- another example of the incessant violence in this city and this country,'' Richard Sharpstein, Taylor's attorney, said early Tuesday morning. AT THE SCENE
Police said Miami-Dade patrol officers received the call that Taylor had been shot about 1:45 a.m. Monday.
Among the first responders was George Mira Jr., who lettered as a linebacker at UM from 1984-87 and is now a fire battalion chief. Detective Juan Villalba, a Miami-Dade police spokesman, said police were interviewing relatives who were potential witnesses.
Sharpstein said the couple's baby daughter was also in the bedroom and slept through the shooting. The gunman fled immediately after firing.
''Nothing was stolen. They shot at him and fled,'' Sharpstein said.
Only eight days before, according to police records, someone had broken into Taylor's house between 7 p.m. Nov. 17 and midnight Nov. 18. The intruder, who pried open a front window, entered several rooms and rifled through drawers and a safe in the bedroom.
No one was home at the time; the police report says it was unknown whether anything was taken. In that incident, someone left a kitchen knife on a bed, the police report says. Damage to the A/C vent in Taylor's bathroom was observed, the report said.
Retirees Pat and Jim Smith, who live next door to Taylor, said they heard voices outside about 2:30 a.m. Monday. Outside, Jim Smith talked to a woman with a baby in her arms who he believes is Taylor's nanny. She mentioned the previous break-in.
''I am going to make sure my gun is loaded,'' Jim Smith said. ``We never did have any problems here.''
PLAYING CAREER
Taylor, a graduate of Gulliver Preparatory School in Pinecrest, was chosen by the Redskins as the fifth pick overall in the National Football League's 2004 draft.
He signed a seven-year, $18 million contract after his junior year at UM, when his nine interceptions were the most in the Big East Conference and second in the nation.
At UM, he was an All-American, a Jim Thorpe Award finalist for best defensive back in the nation and the Big East Defensive Player of the Year.
This season, he was sidelined indefinitely Nov. 11 when he sprained his right knee against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Redskins lost to the Buccaneers in Tampa on Sunday.
Redskins Vice President Vince Cerrato, Redskins owner Dan Snyder and running back Clinton Portis flew on the owner's plane to Miami on Monday.
''Our hearts and prayers go out to Sean and his family,'' Snyder told The Associated Press. ``We appreciate very, very much the outcry of support.''
UM officials also weighed in, saying ``this is a terrible thing to have happened to a great person, and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and teammates.''
Taylor is no stranger to controversy.
Before he was drafted, he was rebuked by the NFL for leaving the league's mandatory rookie symposium early, and drew a $25,000 fine.
ASSAULT CASE
He was arrested in June 2005 on felony charges of waving a gun at people he believed had stolen his all-terrain vehicle. He later pleaded no contest to misdemeanor assault and battery. Sharpstein said Taylor was the victim and that he should not have been charged.
After the plea, Ryan Lee Hill, a member of the group that Taylor had allegedly accosted, sued Taylor. In the suit, which is pending, Hill claimed Taylor hit him repeatedly in a fight and brandished a gun at him, and said he had lost wages and had medical bills because of injuries.
''Totally garbage and untrue,'' Sharpstein said Monday of Hill's account.
After the fight, Taylor, friend Michael McFarlane and a man named Charles Caughman went to McFarlane's house in West Perrine, according to court records of the incident. Soon afterward, a silver car pulled up to McFarlane's house and someone opened fire, peppering Taylor's GMC Yukon Denali with bullets. Police found 27 bullet casings outside, and at least 15 shots hit Taylor's car. No one was hit, and the shooting remains unsolved.
McFarlane has since moved out of the small ranch home on Southwest 104th Avenue. The current renter on Monday showed a visitor bullet holes that remain over a front window.
CHANGING HIS LIFE
Taylor's cousin, Florida State University safety Anthony Leon, said Taylor was trying to shed some troublemaking friends he had grown up with. Leon, who said he spent his morning crying and praying in his dorm room, said Taylor had ``started to calm down.''
''He's been trying to stay away from bad company -- especially for his daughter's sake,'' Leon said. ``Sean wasn't a bad guy at all. He's got his personality on the football field and off it. All he was trying to do was protect his family. And they shot him.''
Miami Herald staff writers Patricia Mazzei, Manny Navarro, Evan S. Benn and Susannah A. Nesmith contributed to this report.
