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Source: 3 detained for questioning in Taylor killing
By Jessica Gresko, The Associated Press
MIAMI — Police have detained at least three people in the Fort Myers area for questioning in the death of Washington Redskins football star Sean Taylor, the Associated Press learned Friday.
A law-enforcement official in Lee County confirmed the men were in custody, but declined to be named because the investigation is being handled by Miami-Dade County police.
Miami-Dade Police detective Carlos Maura said he was not aware of anyone in custody. He would only say that detectives were in the Fort Myers area for a case, but declined to say which one.
The Miami Herald reported on its website that investigators believe three suspects learned of Taylor's house through someone who unwittingly set up the burglary by bragging about his wealth. The suspects include a teenager and two men in their 20s from the Fort Myers area, the paper reported.
Taylor was shot at his home in the Miami area early Monday during what police called a random burglary. He died a day later from his injuries.
- USA TodaySource: 3 detained for questioning in Taylor killing
Staff and wire reports
MIAMI — At least three people from the Fort Myers, Fla. area were taken into custody Friday and are being questioned in connection with the death of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor, the Associated Press is reporting.
A law enforcement official in Lee County, Fla., told the AP the men were in custody, but requested anonymity because the investigation is being handled by Miami-Dade County police. The Fort Myers News-Press, citing a neighbor, said the three were taken into custody early Friday morning at a home in Cape Coral, Fla., adjacent to Fort Myers.
"Most likely, this was a state or federal operation," Cape Coral Police assistant chief Jay Murphy told the News-Press. Such an action would not be unusual, he said. "If they're confident there won't be any issues, there's no reason for them to notify us."
Richard Sharpstein, a former Taylor lawyer and family friend, confirmed the law enforcement report to the AP.
"It's my understanding that three individuals are in custody. A house is being searched," Sharpstein said, without disclosing who had given him the information.
Taylor, who didn't accompany the team to Tampa for its game Sunday, left for Miami at some point after having treatment and working out Saturday at the Redskins complex in Ashburn, Va. He spent several days in Florida after the Nov. 18 break-in, but Redskins coach Joe Gibbs was unaware that Taylor had returned while the team was on its road trip.
Homicide detectives found signs of forced entry at the gated-community ranch-style home that Taylor purchased for $900,000 in 2005. Police spokesman Juan Villalba said earlier this week that detectives collected evidence and interviewed Garcia and neighbors.
Whether Taylor was targeted because of his status and financial well-being is a question that lingers. It is also unclear if he was a random victim in a neighborhood that is heavily populated by retirees yet has had three burglaries within the last month.
Taylor is the fourth NFL player to die this year, the second from gunfire.
A public viewing for Taylor is scheduled Sunday in Miami, and the entire Redskins organization plans to fly to Florida to attend Monday's funeral at Pharmed Arena at Florida International University.
- Miami HeraldMiami-Dade detectives have detained two teenagers and a man in his 20s in Lee County for questioning in the death of Washington Redskins football star Sean Taylor.
Investigators believe the young men learned of Taylor's house through someone who unwittingly set up the burglary by bragging about the football star's wealth.
The suspects include 17- and 19-year-olds and a 21-year-old. All hail from the Fort Myers area.
The former University of Miami star was not supposed to be home at the time of the break-in. While the Redskins played in Tampa, he had come home to get a second medical opinion on his injured knee.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents and at least two Miami-Dade homicide squads have been in Fort Myers and they picked up the young men Friday morning.
Miami-Dade police briefed Taylor's father, Pedro Taylor, on Friday morning about the case, at the same time that investigators were tracking down the men wanted for questioning.
- Miami HeraldLEHIGH ACRES -- Miami-Dade police and prosecutors have arrested four people in connection with this week's slaying of NFL star Sean Taylor.
The men: Jason Mitchell, 19, Eric Rivera, 17, Charles Wardlow, 18 and Venjah Hunte, 20. They will be charged with murder.
Miami-Dade Director Robert Parker said Friday night that the men targeted the house in a burglary and did not think Taylor was home.
''They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone,'' Parker said.
Relatives of Mitchell, 19, told The Miami Herald that he attended a birthday bash for Sasha Johnson, who is Sean Taylor's sister. Johnson dates Christopher Devon Wardlow, 21, Mitchell's family said. His brother, Charles Wardlow, 18, was also being interviewed by Miami-Dade homicide detectives.
According to Scottie Mitchell, 19, Jason's twin brother, Johnson and Christopher Devon Wardlow invited Jason Mitchell to the birthday party within the past two months. He even did work around Taylor's house, Scottie Mitchell said: ``He cut his grass and everything.''
Scottie Mitchell said he believes his brother was home in Lehigh Acres the night of the murder.
Sasha Johnson turned 21 on Oct. 1. The twins have been friends with Christopher Devon Wardlow for about eight years, Scottie Mitchell said, adding that he does not know Charles Wardlow or the 17-year-old.
Frank Fuller, who identified himself as the grandfather of Charles Wardlow, answered the door at his home in a hardscrabble area of east Fort Meyers, and told a Miami Herald reporter: ``We don't know anything. We don't know where Charles is. We haven't seen him for hours. And even if we did [know], we wouldn't talk to you about it.''
Relatives say Jason Mitchell worked at a Bob Evans restaurant and had gone to a job interview at UPS Friday morning before being picked up by police.
FDLE agents and at least two Miami-Dade homicide squads picked up the three in the Fort Myers area Friday morning. At least two others are being sought for questioning.
''We have confessions, but I'm not going to talk about the details of the confessions at this point,'' Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker said at a news conference in Doral.
By Lisa Orkin Emmanuel, Associated Press Writer
MIAMI — The family of slain Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor will get little comfort from the arrest of four suspects, a family friend said, particularly since it appears the killing happened because of greed.
"They targeted him for his wealth," said Richard Sharpstein, Taylor's former attorney. "It makes his death even more pathetic, unnecessary and just actually disgusting."
Police arrested four people Friday in connection with Taylor's shooting death, saying they went to the home intent on committing a burglary, not killing.
The suspects didn't expect Taylor to be there, said Miami-Dade County police Director Robert Parker, but the Redskins safety was recuperating from a knee injury and had returned from Washington. When Taylor surprised them, he was shot.
"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," Parker said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied. So murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive."
The person inside the house with the bad life style choices are Jason Mitchell and may be Taylor's half sister. She at least had some of these thugs in her social circle. Looks like the police are looking for two more for questioning.Wardlow's brother Christopher Devon Wardlow, 21, was dating Taylor's half-sister, Sasha Johnson, a neighbor of Wardlow's said.
The arrests came four days after Taylor, 24, was fatally shot in his home while his girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, and their 18-month-old daughter were in bed. Taylor died Tuesday from his wounds.
Police did not say why the four suspects targeted Taylor's home.
A family friend said Sasha Johnson, 21, and her brother Jamal Johnson, 17, were looking after Taylor's house over Thanksgiving weekend and were the house's "primary residents" along with their mother, Donna Junor.
Sasha Johnson said she could not confirm whether a party was held at the house while she was there. Parker said police were "looking into whether or not one or more of the individuals had been at the residence before."
The family friend, Donald Walker, said he, Junor and Taylor's girlfriend and baby spent Thanksgiving with Taylor in the Washington area.
"While the cat is away the mice will play," Walker said. "They were trying to figure out where we were, and when we would get back, so they could clean up."
Relatives of Mitchell, 19, told The Miami Herald that he attended a birthday bash for Sasha Johnson.
Police also said they were looking into possible connections between the break-in Monday and an attempted burglary at Taylor's home eight days before. In that incident, the intruder or intruders rifled through drawers, looked through a safe and left a kitchen knife on a bed, but appeared to take little.
Here's a link to the Florida Christian Institue, http://fciae.com/The suspects all come from the Fort Myers area. Neighbors said at least two of the suspects have family members in jail.
But it is a place where youth football is big, too. At least two of the suspects had football connections, and possibly aspirations.
Eric Rivera's father, also Eric Rivera, is president of the Greater Fort Myers Junior Football Association. The association's Web site boasts of NFL stars who come from the area.
"That's my son," the father said Friday night. "This isn't a good time to talk right now."
Charles Wardlow is the quarterback at Florida Christian Institute.
Benny Williams, 59, Wardlow's next-door neighbor, said he'd often seen Taylor's half-sister, Sasha, at Wardlow's home. She was dating his brother Christopher Devon Wardlow. She was there for Thanksgiving and had been there as recently as the Sunday before the shooting, he said.
- USA TodayThe suspects all have prior arrests, according to Lee County Sheriff's Office records.
Wardlow, 18, was arrested twice for selling marijuana and once for grand theft of a vehicle. {Rivera} had been arrested in October for trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine. He previously was behind bars for altering the identification number on a firearm.
Hunte, 20, was arrested this year on drug and trespassing charges. And Mitchell, 19, has been arrested twice, most recently in October on charges of driving with a suspended license and violation of probation.
In a way they are all correct. No matter what changes Taylor was making in his life it still looks like he needed to physically separate himself from a bad element along with some members of his own family. Sadly there was still a thin thread connecting him to the life and that was enough for some of it to crawl across and touch him. And those enemies Rolle talks about may have been closer to home than he ever thought.Taylor's attorney Richard Sharpstein said the arrests proved that Taylor had no involvement in incidents that led to his death. Arizona Cardinals cornerback Antrel Rolle, a childhood friend of Taylor's, and others had speculated that Taylor had been hunted down by enemies.
