GREENVILLE — A McGee teenager made his first court appearance Monday after recently being charged as an adult in connection with the October shooting death of his younger brother who was killed during the “mother of all arguments.”
Williem A. Taylor, 15, appeared before Associate Circuit Judge Christina Kime for arraignment on the Class A felony of first-degree murder and the unclassified felony of armed criminal action.
Taylor is accused of causing the Oct. 24 death of Ricky E. Taylor. The 13-year-old died of a single shotgun blast to the back of his head.
After his brother’s death, Williem Taylor was detained, and his case initially was in the juvenile court system. A certification hearing recently was held, and a judge certified the teen to stand trial as an adult.
The charges stem from an investigation by the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Deputies were called to a single-wide mobile home on Highway Z at about 5:30 p.m. Oct. 24. Ricky Taylor was found dead in the kitchen.
Williem Taylor reportedly was taken into custody after he emerged from the woods adjacent to the home.
Ricky Taylor, according to patrol Trooper Shannon Sitton’s probable-cause affidavit, had suffered an “apparent close-contact gunshot wound to the head and numerous gunshot wounds to the upper torso and arms.”
After obtaining a search warrant, investigators processed the scene, Sitton said.
“Laying in the floor of the kitchen, at the base of the cabinets, I observed R. Taylor’s body in a large pool of blood,” Sitton said. “ … I located spent .22-caliber casings on the floor a few feet away from R. Taylor’s body.”
Sitton said he also found “small caliber, lead bullets laying on the floor on the opposite side of the teen’s body, from the spent casings.”
Sitton said a Hatfield 20-gauge, single-shot shotgun containing one spent round in the chamber was found at the scene.
After Williem Taylor was contacted by officers, Sitton said, a canine tracking team from the Missouri Department of Corrections was directed to the area where the teen had exited the woods.
“The canine followed a scent into the wooded area, which led to the discovery of a backpack, coat, boots and 22-caliber rifle,” Sitton said.
Patrol Sgt. Jeff Johnson reportedly interviewed Williem Taylor about his brother’s death.
The teen was told of his rights by a deputy juvenile officer and signed a form indicating his understood his rights, Sitton said.
Williem Taylor reported he and his brother arrived home at about 4:30 p.m., Sitton said.
“William (sic) said he and Ricky had been in the ‘mother of all arguments,’” Sitton said. “William (sic) said he accidentally shot Ricky with a shotgun.
“(He) said he did not know the shotgun was loaded, and it inadvertently went off, hitting Ricky.”
After the shooting, “William (sic) said he then took a .22-caliber rifle, jacket and a backpack and left the residence,” Sitton said. “(He) said he went into a wooded area, took a nap and then walked back to the trailer, falling down a hill and then coming into contact with the law enforcement officers at his house.”
When asked about the rifle, Sitton said, the teen reported “this was going to make it sound so much worse. (He) said he shot Ricky approximately five more times with the .22 before he left.”
Although Williem Taylor initially described the shooting as accidental, upon further questioning, Sitton said, the teen later changed his story to “say he was trying to scare Ricky with the gun when it went off.
“(He) said he was using the shotgun as a scare tactic, but did not think it was loaded.”
Williem Taylor is being held on a $500,000 cash bond. He is to appear Aug. 8 before Kime for a bond hearing in his case.