GREENVILLE — A McGee teenager was ordered to stand trial Friday morning for the October shooting death of his younger brother who was killed during the “mother of all arguments.”
Accompanied by his attorney, Jordan Cantoni with the Public Defender’s Office, Williem Taylor appeared before Associate Circuit Judge Christina Kime for a preliminary hearing on the Class A felony of first-degree murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action.
Having been earlier certified to stand trial as an adult, the 15-year-old is accused of causing the Oct. 24 death of Ricky E. Taylor, 13.
After hearing from three witnesses for the state, Kime found probable cause to bind Williem Taylor over to circuit court on the charges.
Kime ordered the teen to appear at 9 a.m. Oct. 28 before Circuit Judge Kelly Parker for arraignment.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper Shannon Sitton testified he responded at about 6:30 p.m. Oct. 24 to a McGee area home after being notified that a homicide had occurred there.
Williem Taylor, Sitton said, already was in custody when he arrived and was seated in the front seat of a patrol car.
Williem Taylor reportedly had been taken into custody after he emerged from the woods adjacent to the home.
Sitton said there were several officers on the scene, securing it as Wayne County Chief Deputy John England applied for a search warrant.
Sitton described the residence as a single-wide mobile home.
Ricky Taylor, he said, was found laying in the kitchen floor and had what he described as a “close (contact) gunshot wound to the head.”
Sitton said he also saw some “small caliber gunshot wounds on his body.”
According to Sitton, there was gun cabinet in the home that contained multiple firearms, including a 20-gauge shotgun. The shotgun, he said, had a empty shell casing in the chamber.
In the kitchen floor, Sitton said, he also found two small projectiles and three shell casings.
A canine tracking team, Sitton said, was brought in to search the woods where the teen had emerged for a rifle and clothing.
A pair of boots, backpack, coat and .22-caliber rifle, he said, were found.
On cross-examination, Sitton said, he had no contact with Williem Taylor.
Sitton said both he and Dr. Russell Deidiker examined Ricky Taylor’s body, and the teen had “at least three, possibly four” other wounds in addition to the head wound.
When asked about the items found in the woods, Sitton said, nothing was found in the coat.
In the backpack, he said, was a “magazine for that rifle,” as well as boxes of ammunition, with some rounds missing, a flashlight and school-related materials, like notebooks.
Wayne County Coroner Gary Umfleet said officers with the highway patrol and sheriff’s already were on the scene, waiting for the search warrant, when he arrived.
Umfleet said when he later entered the home, he found Ricky Taylor laying on his side in the kitchen floor with a “gunshot wound to the back of the head.”
Like Sitton, Umfleet also said, there were spent bullets and shell casings found on the kitchen area.
“The head wound was the obvious cause of death to Ricky Taylor,” Umfleet said.
During the autopsy, Umfleet said, Deidiker found the shotgun blast had fractured the teens’ skull. Wadding and pellets, he said, were found in the wound.
The teen, Umfleet said, had “four distinct entrance wounds.”
Those wounds, he said, were “front to back, going down the thoracic (chest) area into the abdomen.”
“The cause of death was homicide, gunshot wounds to the head, abdomen and thoracic” areas, said Umfleet.
On cross-examination, Umfleet said, he initially looked at the scene and body upon his arrival, but waited until the search warrant before doing any further examination.
Emergency-medical-services personnel, he said, already had been there and reported Ricky Taylor was dead.
The state’s final witness was patrol Sgt. Jeff Johnson, who, like Sitton, are assigned to the patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control.
Upon arriving at the scene, Johnson said, he walked through the kitchen area of the home, where he saw a “juvenile male laying in the floor, deceased, a large amount of blood around the body,” as were shell casings.
Johnson said later interviewed Williem Taylor at the sheriff’s department.
Due to the teen’s age, Johnson said, Wayne County Deputy Juvenile Officer Tom Keeney told Williem Taylor about his rights in the presence of his mother.
Both the teen and his mother, Johnson said, signed forms indicating they understood the teen’s rights.
Johnson said the teen’s initial response was that he did not want to talk to law enforcement.
According to Johnson, the teen’s mother encouraged him to speak to Johnson, indicating he would be “helping Ricky” by talking.
At that point, Johnson said, he told the teen that regardless of what his mother wanted, it was his choice.
Williem Taylor, he said, subsequently agreed to speak with him.
When asked to provide his account of what happened, Johnson said, the teen reported he and his brother got off the school bus at about 4:30 p.m. and that they had daily chores to do around the house.
Johnson said the teen initially reported his brother was doing the dishes and he was outside.
While outside, Johnson said, the teen reported he heard a weapon discharge in the house, but when he entered the home, he didn’t see anyone.
When Johnson confronted him about not believing his story, he said, the teen indicated he killed his brother, but it was an accident.
Johnson said the teen subsequent reported he shot his brother while trying to scare him and didn’t think the gun was loaded.
Johnson said he told the teen an autopsy would be performed on his brother, and it would show whether Ricky Taylor had been shot with any other weapon beside the shotgun.
When asked about the rifle, Johnson said, the teen hung his head, saying, “this is going to look real bad.”
While Ricky Taylor was “on the ground, he said, he shot him three or four more times” with the rifle, Johnson said.
The shooting, according to Johnson, occurred during what the teen implied was the “mother of all fights” while Ricky Taylor was doing the dishes.
After the shooting, Johnson said, the teen reported he returned the shotgun to the gun cabinet and left with the rifle, his backpack and coat.
When asked about the teen’s demeanor, Johnson said, he was “nervous, but also matter of fact.”
On cross-examination, Cantoni questioned Johnson extensively about how his client’s interview was recorded.
Johnson said the interview was audio recorded, but not video recorded.
When Cantoni asked about his client’s behavior, Johnson said, the teen only made eye contact when he spoke to him, otherwise he was looking down.
Johnson described his mother as being anxious, leaning forward and appearing concerned.
The woman, he said, was upset, and he had a hard time understanding her because she was “very soft spoken.”
Cantoni subsequently asked whether Johnson questioned his client about “what made it the mother of all fights.”
Johnson said he did not ask, but had been told they “got into fights on a regular basis. This was the mother of all fights.”
Johnson also confirmed he did not ask about any mental deficiencies or learning disabilities the teen may have.