Suspected prowler slain
SIERRA VISTA — A homeowner apparently shot and killed a young man suspected of prowling in the backyard of his residence in the 1000 block of Exeter Drive at about 1:20 a.m. on Saturday morning.I'm generally not in favor of ventilating someone just for being in my backyard, but as is usually the case in DGC stories, the reporting is woefully inadequate to give any indication this was not a legitimate situation. The goblin may very well have been preparing to hurl a brick through the back window to gain entry or any number of other threatening measures. In any case, being on someone else's property, in the middle of the night, so far as to be near the back door, is just asking to paint a bull's eye on your sternum.Shane Ray Taylor, 22 years old, was pronounced dead at the scene when police arrived in response to a call from the homeowner, according to a release from the Sierra Vista Police Department. The homeowner made the call after hearing noises in his backyard and discovering someone near his back door.
Play stupid games, win stupid prizes...
Dead Goblin Count: 121
That is all.
9 comments:
This is why I love living in AZ. Even after our recent tragedy in Tucson, people still haven't been scared by our local politicians enough to start becoming victims. We no longer need permits to carry concealed (except in bars, if I'm not mistaken) and it is not at all uncommon to see someone in the local Wal-Mart with a 1911 on their hip. Oh, and even if the politicos actually did manage to take away our concealed carry without a permit, we actually use and our police here know about, the open carry laws.
Sounds like 2+2=4... middle of the night, back door=up to no good...
This 22 year old father to be was shot in the back of the head through a closed door by the home owner. He was simply trying to get to a party that was two doors down. He was drunk and confused as to where he was. Sure, you shouldn't be in someone's back yard, but you also shouldn't have to pay with your life for trespassing. The retired military homeowner fired with no warning whatsoever through a closed and locked door. Shane was unarmed and retreating from the house. Seconds before his death, he had a phone call from his friend who told him "coming to get you buddy, wait right there for me". That was the last anyone ever spoke to him.
You go ahead and add up your 2+2 if you want, but the answer is not always what you think. I think it is devastating for the family to have to read comments like yours and have to see most people trying to make Shane out to be the criminal and not the cold blooded killer who fired at him from inside the safety of his locked home.
L Powler...I dont know if I know you but i agree with you 100 percent. I was with Shane the night he was brutally murdered. I left around 12 pm..now that i think of it i wish i would have stayed. shane was a good guy he always smiled and he would have been a good father. To all the people who DONT know the legit story shame on u for saying stuff that is not true and especially for his family and loved ones too see such cruel things. Shane was trying to leave, yes he was drunk so wasnt aware of his surroundings but he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. May god bless your soul shane..RIP u will never be forgotten
To the two anonymous posters preceding me, do you have any evidence to support your position? Or are you expecting us to take your statements at face value? You must remember we are on the internet and leaving anonymouse comments. It is often prudent to err on the side of scepticism when commenters post a sequence of events differing from the information that has been released.
If as you allege, that the sequence of events did happen in such a situation then the police would not be stating it would be a suspected prowler. Until you provide evidence to the contrary the facts that we can acertain is that there was a trespass onto a fenced lot at approximately 1:20 am with the intruder near the back door and the homeowner took measures to protect himself.Until determined otherwise it seems to be a legitimate case of self defense.
I read the police report and I've realized there are a lot of inaccurate comments made by the grieving family and friends. The shooter was not a retired military person; he is a civilian who never served. Shane was not shot in the back of the head, but was shot in the right temple. When I read the public police record I truly felt the homeowner feared for his life. He was obviously wrong. What he had in his back yard was a very drunk 22-year-old who was abandoned by his drinking buddies because the cops were about to raid the party/fight and Shane didn't want to be arrested again.
Yes, Shane was known by the local police. He had had run-ins with the law, mostly for breaking into homes and assault. It sounds like Shane felt comfortable just hopping into peoples' yards. Makes me wonder how many times he robbed homes before he was caught and arrested the first time. No one in their right minds hops into someone's dark backyard to wait on a ride.
Shane's police record kept him for working decent jobs since graduating from high school in 2007. He worked around town as a dishwasher on and off. Although I wouldn't call Shane a hardened criminal, he clearly lacked a good upbringing and apparently his parents failed to teach him right from wrong.
Shane didn't deserve to die. He made a grave error that night drinking shots of whiskey in his friend's garage. His friends aren't talking now, either, which is hampering the completion of the investigation. Some of the people at the party had rap sheets, too, and their lack of cooperation doesn't look too good for them.
I am saddened a young man's life was taken so tragically. The complete story is almost too bizarre to believe. In the end there was one frightened homeowner with a gun and a drunk trespasser trying to hide from the cops because he didn't want to be charged with another drunken fight. Both people made grave errors that morning. And one man paid the price.
Replying to: "L Powler" and "Anonymous" from January 17: Before I say anything else, I'm sorry for your loss.
Having said that, though I realize you were in mourning last January, you were wrong about your postings. This was not "cold-blooded murder" - this was Shane Ray Taylor scaring that householder into believing that he was about to break in to his house.
Now, as a Marine Tanker, a Marine Aviation Ordnanceman, and a Deputy at Central Booking, I've learned that you can get yourself killed for no better reason than bad luck. And foolish mistakes just buy you more chances at bad luck.
I'll admit that I don't know Shane as you did, and I'm by NO means saying he was some murderous thug, but, viewed objectively, the kindest thing we can say about his actions that night is that he made a whole lot of foolish mistakes that night. I think that you have to concede that much, at least.
I don't mean to hurt you, but Shane foolishly drank more than he could handle; Shane foolishly compounded that foolish mistake by getting into a conflict that got the cops called. He foolishly made things worse by running off from the cops instead of taking his lumps like a man. And, worst of all, when he ran off, he foolishly did so in such a foolish way as to convince a householder that he meant to break in to the house. Since, as far as I know, the Grand Jury hasn't indicted the householder for anything, it folliows that, if the householder made any mistake at all, it was in not being some sort of Madame Cleo psychic enough to read Shane's mind and realize that, whatever his actions to convince the hell out of the householder that he was a home invader, Shane wasn't going to break in and do a home invasion on the householder. Now, I dealt with genuine thugs and damnfool kids at Central Booking for 20 years, and I'm no Madame Cleo mindreader - how about you? You, neither? - Then where do you get off expecting John Q. Householder to be a Madame Cleo mindreader, guys? NO? Then where do you get off calling the householder a "cold blooded murderer" - YOUR words.
You're wrong, dudes. At worst, it'd be Reckless Homicide - but the Grand Jury hasn't indicted the householder for even that much, has it? And, if you can't even convince 15 of 26 citizens on the Grand Jury of a crime by the householder to issue an indictment, then you ought to consider whether the householder even committed any crime in the first place. If you do a whole bunch of foolish mistakes that would convince any reasonable man of something, then you have no complaint when that reasonable man is convinced and acts on what you convinced him of. Sucks, I know, but that's what foolish mistakes do cost.
And the situation is not helped at all by your lashing out in your grief and compounding Shane's foolish mistakes. I'm sorry as hell, but that's the way it is - you're not doing your friend Shane any favors at all.
There was a cold-blooded murder in town again, this one committed by 17-year-old Theodore "Teddy" Ramos. He would have been a senior at the local high school but now he's been charged with first degree murder, 12 counts of rape, kidnapping and burglary. He walked over to his neighbor's house, slashed the throat of the 76-year-old man and repeatedly raped the 72-year-old. This happened in the general area of where Shane Ray was shot. It's people like Teddy Ramos that give people here fear and why they carry arms.
I know most of the people behind this "justice for Shane" thing, I spent over a decade in that town. The fact of the matter is, he was way to drunk and in the wrong guys yard in the middle of the night. Was a guy like Shane trying to break in to his house....no. but the home owner IMO is not guilty of murder either. He defended himself from what be perceived to be a threat on his property at 3am. A friend of mine was dating Shane and has recently given birth to his child, im sorry for her loss, and the loss of others I know who knew Shane, but its an unfortunate accident in which shanes actions put him in that position. I don't see a reason to punish the homeowner... it wont bring Shane back and it won't do anything but ruin another life from one stupid night.
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