Glenn Taylor
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Frustrated and appalled by the way Elko County treated the killing of his son James, Currie Station owner Glenn Taylor is a man on a mission to win what he called justice for his son.
In a second full page ad, the elder Taylor again lambasted the Elko County District Attorney’s office and the coroner’s inquest and once again appealed for a more thorough investigation of his son’s killing at the hands of Glen Mead.
Mead was never arrested or charged in connection with the September killing of James Taylor and just a month after the shooting a coroner’s inquest found the 59 year old vagrant innocent by reason of justifiable homicide.
The failure to even charge Mead coupled with the swift dismissal of the case could indicate that at least for the Sheriff and District Attorney the case was open and shut.
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But while the elder Taylor’s effort might be dismissed as a grieving father railing illogically at the system, there is evidence that speed in which Mead was let off was due less to a thorough investigation than to no police work whatsoever.
The most glaring fact police ignored, Taylor charged was that mead shot his son no less than five times with a bolt action rifle.
“Five times with a bolt action,” Taylor said last month. “He had to pause each and every time to reload before he shot James again. That doesn’t merit at least an arrest? Or at least a deputy spending a couple of days doing a follow-up? Maybe a question or two by the inquest jury? Instead we got nothing. I was actually embarrassed to be a part of it.”
Taylor’s assertion that neither the sheriff’s or the DA offices did little or no investigation in the case was corroborated by his son’s widow Kanesha Taylor and other potential witnesses in the case who told the High Desert Advocate that they were never even contacted or questioned in the short month between the killing and the inquest.
The most potentially damning testimony could have come from several witnesses who claim months to just days before the shooting Glen Mead openly spoke about killing James Taylor or indeed anyone else as a way to ensure himself life long care in the prison system.
Mead’s public musings of retirement by means of murder are especially significant in regards to the inquest’s finding of justifiable homicide or the vagrant. According to law the state of mind for such a finding is critical, the jury must believe that the person believed that his or her life was in imminent danger before he resorted to deadly force against an assailant.
“It’s one thing to shoot somebody coming at you with a weapon,” said an attorney contacted in regards to the case. “But its quite another to kill someone who was unarmed and that you have been talking about killing for several months prior to the fact.”
While James Taylor may have had a firearm in his vehicle at the time he was shot by Mead, Mead himself said that the young man’s hands were empty when he shot him.
Indeed in a recorded statement to Elko Detective Kevin McKinney taken shortly after the shooting Mead told the deputy that he did not feel that his life was in danger at any moment during the shooting and even told the detective that there was no need to continue shooting Taylor after the second bullet when the young man was writhing on the ground in pain. The complete transcript of Mead’s statement can be found on the High Desert Advocate’s website www.coyote-tv.com.
complete Mead statement click link
“I challenge anyone to read Mead’s statement and not come to the conclusion that the DA should have come up with some kind of murder charge first degree, second degree or manslaughter anything but instead Mead isn’t even arrested on anything. The only thing they held him on was an unrelated warrant out of White Pine County for a previous crime.”
While the elder Taylor campaign has so far been greeted with deaf ears in the Elko DA’s office it has spurred interest around the state.
“I have been called by law firms as far away as Reno with their condolences and offering advice on how to get this case prosecuted,” Taylor added. “All of them are appalled about what passes for justice in Elko County.”
In addition to free legal advice and support Taylor has also received offers of financial help in keeping the campaign going.
“It is heartwarming to know that there are so many people out there who support us in our time of pain,” Taylor said.
The support for Taylor could also turn into support against District attorney Marc Torvinen and Sheriff Jim Pitts when or if they seek reelection.
“If I wasn’t involved I would still like to think that the way the killing of my son was handled would way on my mind when I go vote. And I will make sure the voters are reminded.”
This is sad. My prayers go out to the family. In this country of ours the time is comming when, we the people will rise up and take back control.