Such A Waste11:06 Dec 01 2007
Times Read: 687
MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Four men have been arrested in connection with the shooting death of NFL player Sean Taylor, authorities announced Friday evening.
Police have more than one confession in the case and the individuals will be charged with murder, said Robert Parker, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department.
The suspects were identified as Venjah K. Hunte, 20; Eric Rivera Jr., 17; Jason Scott Mitchell, 17; and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18.
Additional arrests are possible, Parker said.
"The key to solving this case was citizen's tips," he said.
Taylor, 24, died Tuesday, a day after he was shot during an apparent burglary at his Miami home.
The police investigation revealed the suspects thought the house was empty, Parker said.
"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," he said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied, so murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive. ... Their obvious motive was to go there and steal the contents of the house."
The men knew Taylor lived at the house, Parker said.
At 1:45 a.m. Monday, Taylor's girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, called 911 and said someone had been shot.
Authorities have said she told police she was hiding under the bedding during the attack.
Garcia did not see what happened and could not provide a suspect description, Parker told reporters on Wednesday.
Police said Garcia and Taylor were awakened by noise in the living room, and that Taylor got up and locked the bedroom door, but the door was kicked in and two shots were fired, one striking him in the leg.
Garcia tried to call 911 but was unable to, and used her cell phone instead, police said. There was no evidence the line had been cut, Parker said Wednesday.
A break-in was also reported eight days earlier, Miami-Dade police said.
A police report said someone forced a window open and left a kitchen knife on a bed. Several drawers and a bedroom safe were searched during the break-in, according to the report.
Taylor was home unexpectedly because of an injury, his former attorney, Richard Sharpstein, told reporters Tuesday. "I think he was surprised or they were surprised to find him there," he said.
Taylor spent four years with the Washington Redskins, but had been out with a sprained right knee. He did not play in Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.
Taylor was a first-round pick in the 2004 draft, according to his team's web site.
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He played at the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003, and was also a high school standout in the city. Dubbing him "the prototype NFL free safety," the Redskins credited Taylor's team-leading tackling prowess for sending him to his first Pro Bowl after 2006.
He was regarded as one of the hardest hitting players in the league. Taylor recorded 257 tackles (206 solo) during his brief career, two sacks and seven interceptions.
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Five families destroyed - Yep, the family of Sean Taylor is obviously besides themselves with grief. This is going to be one hard Christmas for them.
However, four families besides the Taylor family hava also been affected. The four young men that have been arrested all have mothers . Assuming all of them have mothers who are still alive. four women are reeling from the fact that the little baby they once rocked to sleep is now in jail for murder.
I hate to see about the untimely death of people. I also hate to see the young be arrested for a crime that will keep them in prison for yeats. If these four killed Sean Taylor ( they confessed true enough, tut we still need a trial), then five lives are no longer useful for good on the planet. Mr Taylor has passed on . The other four will be sitting in jail and unable to help society in general.
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