On December 29th, 2010, my world stopped and my heart skipped many beats.
My only son, my husband’s only biological child, my beloved Robert Harvell Taylor III, forever 13, was shot in the face and killed by a friend, at the friend’s house, with a pump shotgun. They told us, “He’s dead, you can’t see him.” We were never allowed to view his body.
They told us the boys were playing with the gun, that it was an accident. We later found text messages on our son’s phone that showed that there may have been an argument brewing over a girl.
The police and sheriff refuse to take our calls or discuss our son’s death with us. We sometimes run into the other boy’s family in our small town. They seem to be moving on with life, but we can’t.
No charges have been filed against the family who left the gun in arm’s reach of children, or the boy who pulled the trigger. The police and sheriff know the family and we believe they are protecting them. The police and sheriff refuse to take our calls or discuss our son’s death with us. We sometimes run into the other boy’s family in our small town. They seem to be moving on with life, but we can’t.
If people were held responsible for the negligent storage of guns, especially when a death occurs, then maybe we could save some of our children from this horrible fate, the fate of my son, and so many others.
My heart is forever broken, my sunshine is gone. It’s so hard, grieving my son is a lifelong process.
Little Rob was so special, he is loved and missed beyond words. He was a great friend, son, brother, uncle, nephew, and grandson. He spread so much love and laughter. He is truly missed.
A baseball field in the community now bears his name. It’s the Little Rob #5 Memorial Baseball Field at Historic Osborne Park in Euharlee, Georgia. We have the Keep 5 Alive Foundation to help keep Rob’s memory and legacy of love and laughter alive.
