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AP: Attorney: suspects almost fled Redskin Sean Taylor's house before shooting

Brave New World

By Brave New World
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Brave New World

Brave New World

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http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-redskins-taylorslain&prov=ap&type=lgns

MIAMI (AP) -- The burglary that led to the shooting death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor almost didn't happen when one suspect heard a noise and wanted to flee, an attorney close to the case said Friday.

But the lawyer, Richard Sharpstein, said the alleged triggerman told police he was the cause of the noise and talked the others into continuing, leading to a confrontation early Nov. 26 that ended with a machete-wielding Taylor fatally shot.

"It was a botched burglary all along. It's senseless, mindless and tragic," said Sharpstein, who has acted as a Taylor family spokesman and once represented Taylor in an unrelated case.

Sharpstein, a veteran Miami defense attorney, said his information came from unreleased statements to police given by the four suspects in the case. They are being held without bail and face arraignment on murder and other charges Dec. 21.

Those statements, Sharpstein said, indicate 19-year-old Jason Mitchell and 17-year-old Eric Rivera Jr. went to the house while the other two -- Venjah K. Hunte, 20, and Charles Wardlow, 18 -- stayed outside, where there was a getaway car. The four are all from the Fort Myers area on the state's southwest coast, more than 100 miles from Miami.

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At some point, Mitchell got spooked by noises and ran out of Taylor's house but was persuaded to return by Rivera, who said it was he who had caused the noise. Mitchell and Rivera apparently had been involved in an earlier burglary at Taylor's home, Sharpstein said.

Eight days before the shooting, someone pried open a front window at Taylor's home, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed.

The Washington Post first reported the burglary was nearly called off.

Mitchell attorney Landon Miller said he was aware of Sharpstein's comments but added: "I've never heard that from the prosecutor or from law enforcement." Miller said he could not confirm the account.

Hunte's attorney, Michael F. Hornung, said authorities apparently are investigating the possible theft of money and memorabilia from that earlier Taylor break-in. But he said Hunte had no involvement in that crime and did not enter Taylor's home the night of the shooting.

"He was outside the home, he was never in the home, nor was he waiting in the car for the other individuals," Hornung said. "My client was not within the distance -- the range -- to hear anything, nor did he communicate with the co-defendants."

Rivera attorney Sawyer Smith declined comment. Wardlow's attorney, David A. Brener, said his understanding from police was that his client tried to convince the group to leave when the noise was heard.

"I will confirm that the allegation is that Mr. Wardlow attempted to persuade the others to leave the premises, and he in fact did leave the premises," Brener said, adding that Wardlow was not inside the house when the shooting occurred and did not know anyone had a gun.

Rivera attorney Sawyer Smith declined comment. The attorney for Wardlow did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Investigators have said the suspects did not expect Taylor to be at home the night of the burglary, but he was not with the Redskins because he had suffered a knee injury and was allowed to return to Miami. Taylor's girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, and their 18-month-old daughter were also at home that night but were not injured.

Associated Press writer Rasha Madkour in Miami contributed to this story.

It was the 17 year old who ended up persuading them to come back and kill him.

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Smurf85

Smurf85

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Same here.... It makes it worse that it was these punk ******* looking to take someone else's hard earned money.

To tell you the truth I don't like seeing any Taylor threads right now.I want to just forget about it right now.I mean I never want to forget him and I never will,but right now I'm not really ready to keep talking about him.I don't even like coming to ES right now and I don't like my sig, but I have it to honor him.

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Tom [Giants fan]

Tom [Giants fan]

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Do you ever wonder if things like this are just meant to happen for whatever reason? When you read an article like that, it just shows that so many variables had to occur for Taylor to have gotten shot at that time. If any one of those things goes the other way, no one is killed. Maybe I'm just looking for something to make myself feel better that this happened. That Taylor being killed was something more than just a burglary gone wrong. I don't know.

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Neophyte

Neophyte

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']Do you ever wonder if things like this are just meant to happen for whatever reason? When you read an article like that' date=' it just shows that so many variables had to occur for Taylor to have gotten shot at that time. If any one of those things goes the other way, no one is killed. Maybe I'm just looking for something to make myself feel better that this happened. That Taylor being killed was something more than just a burglary gone wrong. I don't know.[/quote']

I was going over it just last night with my wife, all the various points that a decision was made that brought about this tragedy. We are looking at two weeks worth of stuff that dropped just right...

If Reid or Williams call different plays on the down where Taylor was originally hurt.

If the first break-in does not happen.

If Gibbs takes Taylor to TB with the team.

If Taylor stays in DC instead of flying home.

If Taylor takes a flight Sunday night rather than wait till Monday.

And on and on.

In the end I think I counted roughly a dozen decision points in this incident that bring about the final outcome and those are only the ones we know about. There are likely countless others that we don't know about.

I think the one that gets me the most is the fact that these punks decided to hit the same house again just a week after the first break-in. How stupid is that? Who does that? What could they possibly have thought to gain?

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Santana_Fan

Santana_Fan

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']Do you ever wonder if things like this are just meant to happen for whatever reason? When you read an article like that' date=' it just shows that so many variables had to occur for Taylor to have gotten shot at that time. If any one of those things goes the other way, no one is killed. Maybe I'm just looking for something to make myself feel better that this happened. That Taylor being killed was something more than just a burglary gone wrong. I don't know.[/quote']

This may be a little different to what you just said, but I myself thought it was weird that the 2 1/2 weeks we didn't see Sean Taylor on tv (because of the injury), was getting fans prepared for good. I personally don't like to think of it that way, but I just find it weird that for those 2 weeks, we weren't seeing Sean at all.

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philal0102

philal0102

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']Do you ever wonder if things like this are just meant to happen for whatever reason? When you read an article like that' date=' it just shows that so many variables had to occur for Taylor to have gotten shot at that time. If any one of those things goes the other way, no one is killed. Maybe I'm just looking for something to make myself feel better that this happened. That Taylor being killed was something more than just a burglary gone wrong. I don't know.[/quote']

I think that everything happens for a reason..... So I gues you could say that it was meant to be the way it turned out. Maybe he saved someone else's life by getting shot that night.

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Brave New World

Brave New World

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']Do you ever wonder if things like this are just meant to happen for whatever reason? When you read an article like that' date=' it just shows that so many variables had to occur for Taylor to have gotten shot at that time. If any one of those things goes the other way, no one is killed. Maybe I'm just looking for something to make myself feel better that this happened. That Taylor being killed was something more than just a burglary gone wrong. I don't know.[/quote']

I do.

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TSO

TSO

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']Do you ever wonder if things like this are just meant to happen for whatever reason? When you read an article like that' date=' it just shows that so many variables had to occur for Taylor to have gotten shot at that time. If any one of those things goes the other way, no one is killed. Maybe I'm just looking for something to make myself feel better that this happened. That Taylor being killed was something more than just a burglary gone wrong. I don't know.[/quote']

No, you're right Tom. It's obvious to anyone who can assess it honestly that these things aren't just random events. Too much needs to happen.

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Brave New World

Brave New World

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There all punks I will give you that,but it relaly sound like the 17 year old was the cause of this.They should hang that little SOB.

It is kind of amazing to me thinking that me and this kid were born in the same year. I still remember goofing off in Math and some of my peers are already condemned.

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HailGreen28

HailGreen28

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The stories coming out are the defendants trying to make themselves look better. "Well, we didn't mean to kill anybody." "We was scared by some noise."

They kicked open a door, that they probably knew was the bedroom, so they had to know someone was in there, so none of the quotes in the article matter much to me, other than that the idiots are admitting they were there.

I really wish Taylor's girlfriend could ID the shooter. The whole line about "the youngest member of the gang, who's too young to be tried as an adult, is the one who shot Taylor" seems fishy too.

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SKINS FAN #56

SKINS FAN #56

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It's all about faith man. It had to happen, it was meant to be.

And there's nothing we can do about it but hope Sean Taylor is resting in peace. We just have to think to ourselves, "He's in a better state right now then he was here".

I mean imagine if he had survived. What a painful life it would've been, being disabled and probably not being able to walk.

It happened for the better fellas, all we can do is pray.

:notworthy

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BAFGA

BAFGA

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You know, the "what-if" game in regards to this situation is really not necessary. I think a lot of us have moved on and really don't need to rehash what might have been. The win on Thursday was a bit of closure for some. That is just my opinion.

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