Hopewell mother looking for answers after son was shot and killed

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - A Hopewell mother is looking for answers after her son, 26-year-old TeAndrey Taylor, was shot and killed on Monday while turning into their apartment complex.

“Somebody took my son away from me. Somebody murdered my son,” Vanette Turner, Taylor’s mom, said.

Turner said she had just returned home from work early Monday morning when she heard gunshots outside her home.

She said it was so close she called her daughter to check in on her youngest son to make sure nothing had happened to him.

Turner went to sleep but was woken up minutes later by banging on her door.

She said a neighbor told her that Taylor, her other son, had been shot in a car while turning into their apartment complex.

“They had already put him in an ambulance, and they tell me to go to John Randolph,” Turner said. “I make it to John Randolph, and a physician comes out, and she tells me that he didn’t make it.”

Turner said her son was a father of two known for his smile and love for football.

Over the last 24 hours, the only thing keeping her together is the support from her community, including other victims of gun violence, like the mother of P’Aris Moore.

“I wouldn’t have imagined in less than a month this same person who lost her daughter would send me words of encouragement on how she’s praying for me and how she’s praying for my peace,” Turner said.

Just days after a double homicide in Arlington Park, Turner said she has concerns if her son’s killer will be caught.

“I am a mother of a murder victim in a city where it seems like to murder someone is okay,” Turner said. “Right now, if you murder somebody in Hopewell, it’s okay. The reason it’s okay is because I don’t see nobody getting locked up for it.”

Turner is asking whoever did this to turn themselves in so her family and friends can be at peace.

“I don’t want nobody innocent locked up, I don’t want nobody innocent family that has to make funeral arrangements, but what I do want is the person who murdered my son, I want justice,” Turner said.

On Monday, Hopewell Police said it will be launching a new violence intervention task force to cut down on the number of shootings in the city.

Police ask if you know anything about this shooting, call Crime Solvers at (804)-541-2202.

A service will be held for Taylor on Monday at J M Wilkerson Funeral Establishment in Petersburg at 3 p.m.

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