The Taylor family: Eric and
wife JuWanna, with son Ty and
daughter Lauren
Posted on 08/13/2002 3:48:13 AM PDT by ResistorSister
A motorcycle and a car remain parked in the double-car garage. A black iron eagle is mounted above the door of the white ranch-style home with navy vinyl shutters.
At the end of a cozy Massillon street, the home, once filled with a young family’s joy, has become a place of mourning.
JuWanna Taylor, widow of slain Massillon police officer Eric Taylor, is surrounded by family – her two children, her mother and her brother, David Jones.
Jones said his sister, JuWanna and her two children, Ty, 2, and Lauren, 1, are faring well in the wake of the Friday night shooting death of the Massillon patrolman.
While he said it is too soon for his sister to speak for herself about the death of her husband, Jones said JuWanna is grateful for the city’s support.
“She’s been very thankful for the way people have responded and the way everyone has been treating her,” he said. “Everybody has been very respectful to her. The city has seemed to embrace her.”
Jones, a resident of the Columbus area, said he is prepared to remain in the area to help his sister for as long as she needs the support.
“We’re not sure what my sister wants to do,” he said. “But we want to be here for her as long as she needs us.”
Jones said he was attending a fund-raiser at the state capitol when his mother called his cell phone to tell him Taylor, 31, had been killed in a shootout with Donald W. Matthews, 61, of Jackson Township.
“She was crying and said, ‘He’s gone. Eric’s gone.’ I jumped in the car and left for Massillon,” Jones said. “I probably got here in an hour.”
JuWanna Jones met Eric Taylor in 1994. They were introduced by a mutual friend. They dated for five years and married in 1999. Their first child was born a year later.
When Taylor was hired by the Massillon Police Department, the newly married couple rented an apartment briefly and then bought a house in the 300 block of Kaylynn St. S.W.
“I remember talking to him about buying the house and everything he went through with the bank to get it,” said David Jones. “He and I used to talk about motorcycles a lot. He was giving me advice on what to buy, because I was thinking about buying one.”
It is Eric Taylor’s motorcycle that stands against the wall in the garage.
Jones said about a year ago, he took his brother-in-law up on an offer to participate in a “ride-along” and sat in the passenger seat of Taylor’s squad car for an entire shift.
“It was actually boring. It was so quiet,” Jones said. “We would sit and just wait for people to run a stop sign or something. You just wouldn’t think something like this could happen in Massillon.”
Jones said Taylor rarely spoke of the dangers of his job as a police officer and neither did his sister. When he did talk about his career, however, he was passionate.
“Listening to both of them talk, we knew this was something he wanted to do,” Jones said.
He said his sister holds no ill will for Matthews or his survivors.
“She only wishes the best for his family,” Jones said. “We only have the best regards for his wife and we wish her the best of luck.
“My sister is a Christian woman and she will find forgiveness in her heart. We can’t penalize his family for his actions. We aren’t ones to judge. We will leave it up to God to do that.”
Last week, Ptl. Taylor kept a promise to his wife and took her to Canada to sightsee in Toronto and at Niagara Falls. The children’s grandmother cared for them while their parents were gone on this special trip.
“I’m so glad, looking back, that my sister had that last weekend alone with him before this happened,” Jones said. “I’m sure the two of them made wonderful memories while they were there. Those are the memories that are going to get her through this.”
In addition to a funeral service, a Sunday memorial is planned in Massillon at Washington High. Condolences may be offered to Taylor’s family from 4-6 p.m. A short memorial service will begin at 6.
“My sister is a Christian woman and she will find forgiveness in her heart. We can’t penalize his family for his actions. We aren’t ones to judge. We will leave it up to God to do that.”
These people have more depth of character and faith than I have. I don't think I could be this charitable and forgiving if my husband had been murdered in cold blood.
A. Don Matthews disagreed with how most other people read the Constitution.
B. Therefore Lauren Taylor, 1, will never know her father.
Yeah, that's a just society.
The problem with these sorts of crackpot philosophies is that you'll always get a few cuckoo-birds who eventually figure out that sitting around writing crackpot letters and filing crackpot liens against the town justice, the dogcatcher, the governor, and the British embassy isn't doing any good, and isn't bringing about their vision of New Jerusalem, or whatever the hell they're aiming for. And so they begin acting more and more provocatively, gradually escalating their confrontations with authority, in hopes of triggering whatever cataclysm they're hoping to see.
And at the end of the day, there's two kids who have no father. Matthews got off easy - he's dead. His problems are over. OTOH, those kids will pay the price for this garbage for the rest of their lives...
You have that right, alnick.
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