4 Charged With Murder In Taylor's Death

Cops: Shooting Was Not Planned, Suspects Thought NFL Star's House Was Empty

(AP)  All four off the suspects in the shooting death of NFL star Sean Taylor are now charged with unpremeditated murder. Three of the suspects charged in the killing of the Washington Redskins star appeared in court by videoconference Saturday, with authorities and two of their lawyers saying that at least some of them have confessed.

A lawyer for one of the suspect tells The News-Press of Fort Myers that he doesn't expect the case to be long or drawn out because of confessions. And he says his client is remorseful about the situation.

Three of the four suspects - Charles Wardlow, Eric Rivera and Venjah Hunte - have been denied bond. All four suspects are charged with unpremeditated murder in Taylor's death, a killing police said was unplanned and arose out of a burglary at the player's home. The fourth suspect, Jason Mitchell, has yet to make a court appearance.

Miami-Dade County police Director Robert Parker said the suspects didn't expect Taylor to be home when they broke in early Monday, but the Redskins safety was recuperating from a knee injury and had returned from Washington. When Taylor surprised them, he was shot.

"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," Parker said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied. So murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive."

Authorities said they had more than one confession, but Parker would not elaborate.

The four were arrested Friday in southwest Florida, about 100 miles from Miami.

Wilbur Smith, the attorney representing Rivera, said Saturday he expected a speedy resolution.

"Don't expect this to be a long, drawn-out thing," he told The News-Press of Fort Myers. "Because there are confessions, I believe this will be quickly resolved."

Smith said while some media reports have pegged his client as the one who pulled the trigger, he had not yet spoken extensively with the suspect to determine if that's true. He said his client was remorseful.

"It's an indescribable tragedy for the Taylor family, and it's a tragedy for the families of these other young men because their lives are down the tube," Smith said.

John Evans, the attorney representing Wardlow, said it's likely all four suspects will be transported to Miami on Sunday. He said his client was reflecting on the gravity of the charges he faces.

"My client has not, I don't think, come to terms with what is being alleged," Evans told the AP on Saturday. "He's in a position, dressed in the orange jumpsuit over there in the county jail, thinking about his life and thinking about his future. You can only imagine the things going through his mind now."

The four suspects all have prior arrests, according to Lee County Sheriff's Office records.

Wardlow, 18, was arrested twice for selling marijuana and once for grand theft of a vehicle. Rivera, 17, has been arrested in October for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine, and he previously was behind bars for altering the identification number on a firearm.

Hunte, 20, was arrested previously this year on drug and trespassing charges. And Mitchell, 19, has been arrested twice, most recently in October on charges of driving with a suspended license and violation of probation.

[random_radar]

Andy Garcia is right. Any man who dies trying to protect his family is a hero.

[gunownerdan]

Sean Taylor proves that homeowners need more than a machete when confronting intruders or other dangerous criminals.

Self Defense
www.a-human-right.com

[kindrox]

The story highlights several things that should be obvious to people but are not:

Criminals don%u2019t believe in fair fights. The often come in packs. Simple self defense classes and pepper spray quickly loose what value they do have as you face multiple assailants.

Some burglars will avoid houses if they believe you are home. Many will not, and will have a plan for how to deal with you. You generally don%u2019t fare well in the plan.

Taylor did not have a gun and I am sure this *friend* informed the robbers of that. Notice that the robbers still brought their own gun, and still had no hesitation in using it. Criminals are not noble outlaws stealing buy ingenious plans and going to great pains to avoid inflicting harm on their victims.

Criminals use intimidation, violence, weapons and superior numbers to get what they want.

The only thing that would possibly have saved Taylor%u2019s life that night was to be armed himself. In your moment of need, when seconds count and the police are only minutes away, who are you going to hold responsible for your safety?

[jshmks]

I''m sorry to say, but GunOwnerDan is right. If they knew Sean Taylor had guns I doubt they would of broken in.

[kindrox]

And as the man in CT learned, criminals often have plans for your wife or teenage daughters. The price for being unprepared, when criminals come to collect, can be very high indeed.

[katie20091]

anyone who even dare kill another human being deserves to die themselves. The fact that he was a football player has nothing to do with it, he was murdered in cold blood. Now his daughter has to grow up without a daddy. We dont know the full story, but we do know that the football world is deeply devastated by this loss, if you have a heart at ALL this is NOT the place to be bad mouthing anyone (well except the stupid people who SHOT him) but out of respect for him and his family and friends and co players, have a heart and watch your mouths because you never know when they will log on to this site and read what we have to say about this. We should be lifting them up in this time of deep sorrow for their loss.

[gunownerdan]

Sean Taylor is truly a hero for confronting dangerous armed intruders with nothing but a machete.
That being said, I wish he would have taken more effective security measures especially since his home had been broken into just a few days before.

[denn034]

If they''re guilty, then, they deserve what they get.

[kindrox]

* If they''''re guilty, then, they deserve what they get. *

What they are likely to get is a plea deal, a few years in jail to pump iron and learn new ways to commit crimes, and then be back on the street. Or maybe they will get off on a technicality and be back on the street in a few months.

Either way a bunch of numb-nuts will continue to tell me that I am safer if my wife and don''t pack guns to protect ourselves.

[vitajay85]

This is indeed a sad story and my sympathies go out to this young man''s family. He did not deserve it. If these guys are indeed the perpetrators, they deserve severe punishment.

Personally, I think homeowners should be able to protect themselves and have a gun for that purpose.

[kindrox]

Viva,

Nice of you to lay off the crack pipe long enough to bless us with your presence.

All from three days ago or less:

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=7430954

Man defends home from two armed robbers with gun.

http://www.kktv.com/news/headlines/11873271.html

Robber shot trying to knock over liquor store

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/14702833/detail.html

Two men invaded a home and held several people at GUNPOINT. Father came and killed one attacker and held the other at gunpoint for police. Father received a minor wound.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/cityregion/s_539854.html

Victim draws gun and shoots attacker after attacker had gun pointed in the face of his friend.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,313148,00.html

Pistol packing granny stops two robbers. And old lady can do it, why can%u2019t you?

This is just from a 2 minutes internet search, I could go all day long. Unfortunately the world is full of cowards who are too afraid to take responsibility for their own safety, and try to tear down anyone else who does.

[kindrox]

Can any of you cowards tell me why if you don%u2019t believe you yourself could take responsibility for your own safety, you feel strong enough to say other people cannot do it, and other people are not doing it?

The FBI says 5,000 people PER DAY are using firearms to defend themselves. Generally without a shot being fired as the would-be criminal decides to be somewhere else.

[kindrox]

* Gun users , how stupid and coward , they are not cool ever. *

This of course begs the age old question of who is morally superior: a dead rape victim or a woman with a dead would-be rapist at her feet.

[edward1975-2009]

ESPN had a player for the Arizona Cardinals who knew Taylor for quite a few years, his last name was Rolles, he claims that these people have been targeting Taylor for over three years. Which makes you think as to what relationship he had with this bunch. I have also heard it reported that Taylor was affiliated with less than lawful people and had been in trouble with the law. Only after the birth of his daughter was he trying to turn his life around. This is just another case of a talented athlete whose past came and found him. May he rest in peace and may his family find strength in their faith.

[edward1975-2009]

I don''t think any sane person would call for a complete ban on weapons, but I think we can agree that it should be harder to buy a gun than a candy bar. I think we can all agree that you should attend a safety class on proper gun usage and storage. Too many people own guns and have never learned how to use the thing much less know gun safety. There is a stat that says 58% of gun owners get shot with their own weapon, if your going to have a weapon for god sake, since most crimes occur at night, keep the *** thing where you will be at night. Common sense is a must.

[michaelt302]

Viva, your English is so incredibly bad, I''m embarrassed for you on this forum. Either learn English, or have someone translate for you and type in your comments. This forum is supposed to be in English, not some made-up gibberish substitute. All your words are in the incorrect sequence. Your grammar is all wrong. It gives me a headache.

[keithle1]

One question: how does the rest of the world survive without all the guns that we have?

[lilvinnyb]

Hey "Keithle1". It''s called "The Constitution".

[kindrox]

Well there are 20 million folks who did not get along so well unarmed:

%u2022 Bosnia-Herzegovina: 1992-1995 - 200,000 Deaths
%u2022 Rwanda: 1994 %u2013 1,200,000 Deaths
%u2022 Pol Pot in Cambodia: 1975-1979 - 2,000,000 Deaths
%u2022 Nazi Holocaust: 1938-1945 - 15,000,000 Deaths
%u2022 Rape of Nanking: 1937-1938 - 300,000 Deaths
%u2022 Stalin''s Forced Famine: 1932-1933 - 20,000,000 Deaths
%u2022 Armenians in Turkey: 1915-1918 - 1,500,000 Deaths

I don%u2019t know the number of deaths or how to quantify human suffering in these other places, but being unarmed has not been very helpful to them either

Cubans when Castro took over
Venezuela
South Africa
Zimbabwe
North Korea
Somalia
The Darfer folks
Sudan
Citizens behind the iron curtain
Countless countries in central and South America
Countless countries in south asia
China when the communists took over

So maybe 1 billion folks plus are not getting along so well unarmed? Now go be stupid somewhere else.

[robertkjjj]

Kindrox, well done. You OWNED that loser Keithle1.
You blasted him out of the ballpark.
Good research, looks accurated to me.

[robertkjjj]

Anyone notice that liberals have a tendency to get real quiet and logoff when they are beaten in a battle of brains and research?(an hourly occurrence for most of them) Libs just LOVE to spout off their "feelings" and "opinions", but then any conservative comes along with some hard numbers and they get reeeeeaaaaalllllllll quiet. It''s as if they then say to themselves, %u201CGee, I never thought to do THAT. Maybe next time I should actually READ something before opening my gaping trap."

[king77shaw]

what if you''re a liberal and a gun owner? .,. hmmm, maybe that makes me a libertarian...

[standlee5]

Does anyone out there with some medical knowledge know if a tourniquet could have possibly saved his life?

[blondmadison]

Being armed does not make you smart or right. What it does mean though, is that you have chosen the weapons of your enemies. And, that makes you weak, cowardly, and stupid.

There are more unarmed than there are armed. Get a clue. If a moose tromps into a town, does he get shot and killed? No. Animal control is called and they come out and sniper shoot the moose with moose tranquilizers. Then they kindly and gently pick the animal up and take him back to the wild, unharmed.

Apply that same method to armed humans and quit killing each other like rabid maniacs. Freaks of nature for sure!

[blondmadison]

Can''t get rid of guns and gunowners? You better come up with something if you want to save your lives at some point of a break-in turned bad. Better find an answer.

Remove every single person from everything they own. Burn down all properties and put everyone in a cotton garment butt naked. There. No weapons. But that does not solve the problem with hand to hand violence.

Sew the eyes shut, wire the mouth shut, leave room fo a straw, remove the arms at the shoulders, remove the legs at the knees and put them in a colony to be cared for by your oh so god fearing, loving communities.

[kindrox]

*Being armed does not make you smart or right. What it does mean though, is that you have chosen the weapons of your enemies. And, that makes you weak, cowardly, and stupid.*

Thank you for calling our police and military forces weak, cowardly and stupid.

Now, about the rest of your post. If I understand you correctly, should you find several armed men breaking down your bedroom door, you are going to call animal control? Some might say it has that so-crazy-it-might-work element.

[smartwoman3]

Vitajay85:

There are laws that allow a person to have a gun in home to protect themselves and their families. It is the Constitutional right of the 2nd amendment. You can always call the NRA and get the real skinny. That is one of the reasons the government is trying to take that right away. A man''s home is his castle and his domain. OK. Have a good evening.

[bhappy2-2]

Being armed does not make you smart or right. What it does mean though, is that you have chosen the weapons of your enemies. And, that makes you weak, cowardly, and stupid. Posted by BlondMadison

Well, if that''s the case I will be "weak, cowardly and stupid", but I will also be ALIVE!
Remember, my second amendment protected firearm defends your first amendment right to tell me I don''t need one.
As someone for banning all guns maybe you can answer this- Since those wanting to ban my firearms do not own firearms, how do they propose to take my firearms, without firearms?

[iceman_1960]

"As someone for banning all guns maybe you can answer this - Since those wanting to ban my firearms do not own firearms, how do they propose to take my firearms, without firearms?"
- Posted by bhappy2-2 at 10:10 PM : Nov 30, 2007

We"ll wait till you"re asleep.

[zertrat]

It is "that mentality," is it? Well, Gateway, you must really be a professional genius to see everything perfectly after the fact. I''m now figuring out what will happen to all my friends and colleagues next week or next year based on your insights into "that mentality." What, do you have a special nickel-plated retrospectoscope? You are so smart, please tell us what will happen next, not what just happened that all of us can see.

[bhappy2-2]

We"ll wait till you"re asleep.

Posted by Iceman_1960

Well, you better be a lot quieter than those who did this, I sleep lightly and there is a gun within reach even when I am asleep.
GOOD LUCK!

[iceman_1960]

Self Defense laws in America can be very harsh to the honest citizen.

Before thinking about obtaining firearms, I would contact my local police and ask them to run a security check on my home. I would also invest in sensible locks and look into alarm systems, etc.

If you have to have an OK Corral Shootout in your bedroom at midnight with armed intruders, you"ve fallen down on the basics of home security already.

[bhappy2-2]

If you have to have an OK Corral Shootout in your bedroom at midnight with armed intruders, you"ve fallen down on the basics of home security already.

Posted by Iceman_1960

A closed door will keep an honest man honest, all the locks you can buy won''t stop a thief. That''s what guns are for. If they get by the locks on my doors we will see how they fare against the bullets. If I come out the winner I will see how I fare against the charges. Where I live I have the right to defend myself, my family and my property.

[edward1975-2009]

I''ve always been of the opinion that the reason other countries shy away from the thought of invading the U.S., is that the citizens here are better armed than the military. And it is the untrained that end up having their weapons used against them.

[gunownerdan]

GladImNotOJ,
I like your use of stereotypes and childish insults to "prove" your point.
Very juvenile.
One thing is for sure, if you confront some intruders or other dangerous criminals, you are going to need more than just a machete.
www.a-human-right.com

[hereticzero-2009]

Any more, I''d be afraid to reach for a gun for fear it''s the damned police kicking in the wrong door in a no-knock raid. That will get you just as killed as if an armed robber breaks in!

[robaldrich]

I just read this article and I was going to say, ''that''s what you get when you bring a machette to do a gun''s job;'' however, after reading the last three posts of "GladImNotOJ,'' I realize that what is more important is to find and prosecute whoever shot GladImNotOJ in the head and blew his brains out.

EVERY assertion of fact in his posts is erroneous, the exact opposite of the truth, and easily proven so. It''s 2007, just use google (ignore opinions, just use statistically valid empirical data).

I''ll be glad to research the factual assertions in GladImNotOJ''s posts, and prove them wrong at my normal rate of $150/hr. Send me a $1000.00 retainer and I''ll get started.

My offer probably won''t be accepted because OJ has money and, well, Glad... is not OJ.

[down-ndirty]

Sew the eyes shut, wire the mouth shut, leave room fo a straw, remove the arms at the shoulders, remove the legs at the knees and put them in a colony to be cared for by your oh so god fearing, loving communities.
Posted by BlondMadison at 09:38 PM : Nov 30, 2007
-----------------------

What the hell have you been smoking?

All law-abiding citizens should own guns and know how to use them. It''s a fact that most burglars won''t go into a house if they know the occupants have guns. So if every law-abiding citizen owned guns the burglars would have to find another means to obtains their goods.

[whatithink-2009]

Now some of the people who thought something else must being going on there because nobody would break into a house and just shoot somebody can

STOP THE MADNESS.

Clearly, they didn''t think anyone was home.

Also, can the media stop pandering to the general public? They built up this story as if it was the footballer''s fault. First, he grew up in a middle class neighborhood and went to some of the best prepatory schools in the country. His father is a police chief.

His only run in with the law was because someone tried to steal his car and he pulled a gun on them. For this his guns was taken away by a judge and now someone tries to steal his household items and he is killed.

[swwils]

I don''t understand why he didn''t have a gun after the attempt on the previous week.I would have had old Betsy double barrel sitting in my corner not a machete.Good man and great athlete lost to thieves.They stole his whole surroundings.Hope the ones who did this get the needle!!!

[whatithink-2009]

swwils,

He wasn''t allowed to have a gun after an incident involving someone who had stolen his car. That is why he didn''t have a gun.

[johngoodnews]

"They targeted him for his wealth," said Richard Sharpstein, Taylor''s former attorney. "It makes his death even more pathetic, unnecessary and just actually disgusting."

At first I found this to be a weird comment, but then I recalled the murder of the wealthy family in Connecticut? where the perpetrators targeted the family because the mother and daughter had stopped at a quick mart while driving a Mercedes and were followed home--the perpetrators said it was the Mercedes that made them a target. I wonder how long the wealthy are going to put up with being made targets because they''re wealthy. In Mexico and other countries where the wealthy are preyed upon because they are wealthy, the wealthy hire private security to protect themselves. It''s about time that the wealthy in the US started emulating the wealthy in Mexico and other countries like Mexico and begin protecting themselves from the scum who would prey on them by hiring private security who are skilled in weapons use. I would also recommend that the wealthy start wearing body armor and carrying first-shot knockdown handguns in case their private security get taken out. The kind of trash who prey on the wealthy can''t afford that level of personal protection, and they will think twice before taking on a well-armed and well-protected person of wealth. Remember, an armed society is a polite society.

[whatithink-2009]

johngoodnews,

You are looking at things from completely the wrong direction. This is why nothing ever improves. The wealthy in Mexico do so often at the expense of the poor and there is no real middle class in Mexico. This is nothing to emulate. The gap here between the haves and the have nots are growing greater and greater and those who think they are middle class (thereby often kissing the behinds of the rich and looking down at the poor) are getting smaller and smaller. If the rich want to fight being targeted the best way to do so is to work to make the society less polarized. The more the gap between the haves and the have nots grow, the worst things will get.

[whatithink-2009]

johngoodnews,

You are also looking at things through your eyes and not through the eyes of people who may engage in such behavior. If you feel you have nothing to loss, you will take more risks with your life and the life of others. People who risk doing these things are not thinking about the future, they are living in the moment. The more people who have something to loss in our society, the less things like this will happen.

When we learn that crime is the symptom of a problem, not the problem, we might be able to fix things.

[kindrox]

"Taylor died Tuesday, one day after being shot at his home in an affluent Miami suburb during what officials said appeared to be an attempted burglary."

*So much for the theory (of some) that burglars aren''''t dangerous.*

Someone who a) breaks the law by stealing and b) breaks the law by forcing their way into your house to steal has already demonstrated himself to be dangerous. Situations like this happen all the time with rapes and murders following.

Alarms are nice to wake you up. Solid doors are good to give you a few more seconds before an intruder gets in the house. Neither keep an intruder out of the house. Watch the show To Catch a Thief

The question is, how are you going to deal with them when they do get in?

[kindrox]

Some boob a few posts back thought it dangerous to have a gun in the house if you have children. Why is our public education system failing us to this degree?

To this boob. Do you think police officers don%u2019t have children? Or do you think police officers leave their guns at the station house at the end of their shift?

Break down the door at an officer%u2019s house. And then be prepared to eat lead.

Personally I cannot think of any news story involving a police officer%u2019s child being shot with the officer%u2019s gun. Maybe because the officer teaches the child to respect guns, as I was taught? Maybe because the gun is always in the officer%u2019s control and not tucked somewhere stupid?

I have a CHL license. My gun goes with me.

[michaelt302]

go to:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/12/01/sean.taylor/
index.html
Clearly CBS doesn''t want you to know the race of the suspects as CBS is just oh so "sensitive.".
You have a right to know.

[whatithink-2009]

MichaelT302,

You can tell the race(s) of the suspects by several of the names, dimwit! My question to you is, why is this important? Finally we had a discussion where the topic did not come up and you go and blow it. Are you quick to point out the race on every topic, including white-on-white crimes? Why do you think this is so important?

[michaelt302]

good photos at
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22009119/
What? Black guys did it??? What a f***ing surprise!!!
I never thought in a million years I''d see something so shocking!

[whatithink-2009]

MichaelT302,

CBS seems to be an equal opportunity not showing race website as I just went to the Hillary Clinton story and didn''t see anything about the race of the guy in that topic as well. Paradoxically, you don''t seem to be too equal opportunity as I didn''t see an identical post from you turning that topic into a race one.

Work on yourself.