North Toledo neighborhood rattled after second homicide

Man shot dead in car with children in backseat

Marcia Moore talks about Wednesday night's fatal shooting on her street in North Toledo.

The Blade/Lisa Dutton
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The victim was parked on East Weber Street near Maple Street in North Toledo.

Authorities Thursday were looking for the person they say shot and killed a Toledo man in a car with two young children in the back of the vehicle.

The children, ages 2 and 4, were not injured in the Wednesday incident, Toledo police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said. Their mother, Kristian Scott, 24, of Toledo, who was a passenger, also was shot but is expected to make a full recovery, police said.

Ed R. Taylor III, 27, of Toledo was shot three times in the head, Lucas County Deputy Coroner Dr. Diane Scala-Barnett said.

Taylor's vehicle was parked on East Weber Street near Maple Street, police said.

It appears the firearm used was a large-caliber weapon, she added.

RELATED CONTENT: 2012 Blade Homicide Report

No arrests have been made in the shooting, which was reported to police at 10:23 p.m. Wednesday.

Jackie Willis, who lives on Maple, said she was sitting on her front porch on Wednesday. Her 7-year-old granddaughter had, until about 9 p.m., been riding her scooter from the house they rent to the corner of Weber.

While the family was still outside, the sound of three or four gunshots ripped through the air.

Mrs. Willis' husband ran toward Weber to make sure everyone was all right. Only moments later, Mrs. Willis, who has lived on Maple for about two months, said she saw a man wearing dark-colored clothing run past her house and turn left on East Streicher Street.

Marcia Moore talks about Wednesday night's fatal shooting on her street in North Toledo.

Her description matches the description of the suspect's clothing given by police.

Mrs. Willis' husband approached Taylor, who was in the driver's seat of the car and later pronounced dead at the scene by police, slumped behind the wheel. He said to Taylor, "Don't go to sleep, don't go to sleep. Stay with me,' " Mrs. Willis recalled.

Ms. Scott, who was eventually taken to Mercy St. Vincent Medical Center for her injuries, was screaming that she had been shot, Mrs. Willis said.

Another woman came to the car and took the children, Mrs. Willis said.

Sergeant Heffernan was unaware of the woman who handled the children. The exact relationship between Taylor and Ms. Scott is also unclear.

Marcia Moore, who lives on East Weber, only several houses from where the shooting occurred, said she also heard gunshots Wednesday.

"I froze," she said, adding she did yell for someone to call the police.

The neighborhood, where she has lived for about a year, is dangerous, she said. Now, after two shootings in the same block of Weber in just more than four months, she's decided to move.

"We're scared," she said. She added that poor lighting on Weber attracts more crime.

"You're safer in the alley than you are on the street," she said, pointing to the back street between Weber and Streicher.

On Nov. 4, Darnell Townsend-Tall was shot and killed at his 339 E. Weber home. Police charged four men with Townsend-Tall's death.

The home where Townsend-Tall lived is now boarded up. There are tall, black trash cans filled to the brim on the front lawn. A memorial of empty liquor bottles and a single red flower has been left on the porch.

"That's two murders in five months," Ms. Moore said. "Why? Why? I don't understand. The police can't handle the streets. They can't handle it."

Sergeant Heffernan said there are increased patrols in North Toledo and that the problems there aren't new.

"There are few random acts of violence in that neighborhood," he said.

Off-duty officers also patrol in the area for additional security, he said.

Ms. Moore said Wednesday's shooting hit too close to home in more ways than one. Her son, Michael Moore, was 17 when he was stabbed to death in the 1400 block of West Delaware Avenue on May 21, 1994.

"I know how that mama felt [Wednesday] last night," she said of Taylor's mother.

A woman who answered the door at Taylor's family's South Toledo home on Thursday said his mother was too upset to talk.

Taylor is the fifth homicide victim this year, compared to three at this time last year.

Police have not determined a motive for the shooting and are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 419-255-1111.

Contact Taylor Dungjen at: tdungjen@theblade.com, 419-724-6054, or on Twitter @tdungjen_Blade.