On a summer evening in Richmond, Virginia, the life of Detective George Ronald Taylor was cut short in a sudden and violent encounter. On June 15, 1986, the day before he would have turned 40, the 38-year-old male detective with the Richmond Police Department was on duty. A U.S. Army veteran with 13 years of service in the police force, Taylor was a dedicated officer.
He was conducting a traffic stop near the intersection of North Davis Avenue and Kensington Avenue when the situation turned fatal.
The individual he pulled over was a convicted murderer who was out on parole. As Detective Taylor approached the vehicle, he was shot. The assailant used a. 44 caliber handgun, inflicting a mortal wound. The motive for the shooting was later determined to be an effort to interfere with Detective Taylor's official duties. He was rushed to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries, leaving behind a wife and two teenage daughters.
The suspect was quickly identified and apprehended. The subsequent investigation and court proceedings revealed the calculated nature of the crime. The man who shot Detective Taylor was tried and convicted of capital murder for the killing of a police officer. He was sentenced to death for his crime. However, the sentence would never be carried out. In 1988, before his scheduled execution, the convicted killer took his own life in prison.
