TYLER, Texas — Police documents show a Tyler man accused of killing a man and injuring another after he purchased a gun to confront the deceased victim's father at a family gathering Saturday after an argument earlier in the day.
Larry Taylor, 39, of Tyler, is charged with murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He remains in the Smith County Jail on a $1.15 million bond.
Tyler police said officers responded to a shooting in the 1700 block of N. Moore Ave. around 9 p.m. and found two men, Cameron Price, 25, and Jabraylon Franklin, 24, both of Tyler, with gunshot wounds.
Both were taken to a local hospital, where Franklin later died and Price is in critical condition.
According to the arrest affidavit, Taylor came to a celebration of life for his children's mother's birthday to pick up his kids. She died last September.
However, one of the children didn't want to go with Taylor. A family member, who is Franklin's father, intervened and told Taylor that the child could stay. Taylor left with the other child.
According to the document, Taylor said that Franklin's father "ran up on him" in a threatening manner. He said he swung at Franklin's father, who then swung at Taylor, and people started holding Taylor back.
After that confrontation, Taylor said he went from his girlfriend’s house to meet up with an acquaintance, who he purchased a gun from, the affidavit stated.
Between 30 to 45 minutes later, Taylor returned to the residence without a shirt and seemed like he wanted to fight someone, the affidavit read.
Franklin then started walking down the driveway toward Taylor, telling him to leave. Then, Taylor started shooting and Franklin fell to the ground, according to the document.
When Franklin approached him, Taylor said he shot him six or seven times and he was aiming for Franklin, the document read.
The homeowner told police that she saw Taylor get out of his car and appeared ready to fight before shooting.
Police said Taylor seemed unaware that he had shot Price.
According to the affidavit, Taylor shut down once he found out Price was shot, saying that he hopes he lives.
Taylor said several times to police, “I threw my whole life away," the affidavit stated.
