What happened to Sean Taylor? 14 years since NFL star was shot dead for protecting family

Sean Taylor, the former NFL star, would have been 38 on Thursday, April 1 if not for a fatal incident that cost him his life 14 years ago. Taylor had a lot of success in football from high school to his NFL career, where he was picked up as the fifth overall pick by the Washington Redskins. Here's a look at what happened to Sean Taylor and why was Sean Taylor murdered. 

Sean Taylor cause of death: NFL star died protecting his family 14 years ago

The 'What Happened to Sean Taylor?' story began when he was at home in Miami during a botched burglary attempt in November 2007. Five Fort Myers-area men broke into his house looking to steal cash and were unaware that the NFL star was at home with a knee injury instead of playing a Redskins game against Tampa Bay Buccaneers. One of the suspects revealed that confronted them at his bedroom door with a machete, which is when he was shot. 

Taylor’s fiancée Jackie Garcia Haley and 18-month daughter were also in the house but did not get injured. The Redskins star was shot in the upper leg and had extensive blood loss through a severed femoral artery, which was the Sean Taylor cause of death. He was rushed to the hospital, but breathed his last 24 hours later, in one of the greatest tragedies. 

Sean Taylor death: Who murdered Sean Taylor? 

Days after the Sean Taylor death, four men, Venjah K. Hunte, Eric Rivera, Jason Scott Mitchell, and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, were arrested. The police said more than one confessed to the crime. All four men were charged with felony second-degree murder, armed burglary and home invasion robbery with a firearm, charges which carried a maximum of life in prison. 

In May 2008, a fifth suspect, 16-year-old Timothy Brown, was charged with first-degree murder and burglary which subsequently saw all the murder charges increased to first-degree murder. So who murdered Sean Taylor?

Rivera, who fired the shot that killed Taylor, was sentenced to 57 years in prison, six years after the incident. A jury convicted him of second-degree murder and armed burglary. He was originally charged with first-degree murder but was ineligible for the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the killing. Several Rivera family members pleaded for leniency, but the suspect committed perjury in his testimony, which led him to spend the rest of his life behind bars. 

Sean Taylor NFL career 

Sean Taylor was a first-round pick by the Washington Redskins in the 2004 draft. He was a hard-hitting safety who had previously starred at the University of Miami. With the Redskins, he made a Pro Bowl appearance in 2006, and was nicknamed as the "Meast", from the expression "half man, half beast". Posthumously, Taylor earned a second Pro Bowl selection and second-team All-Pro honours. The NFL recognized the death of Taylor by placing No. 21 decals on the back of all NFL players' helmets during all Week 13 games; additionally, a moment of silence was held before each game that week.

(Image Courtesy: NFL Twitter)