Slain Teenager Christian Taylor Was 'Firm Believer in God' Who Wanted the Devil to Leave Him Alone … 'Forever'
A day before he was fatally shot "multiple times" by an Arlington police officer responding to a break-in report at the Classic Buick GMC dealership in Texas shortly after 1 a.m. last Friday, 19-year-old Angelo State University sophomore Christian Taylor tweeted: "Devil get up off me … forever."
Taylor, who was breaking into and vandalizing cars on the gated lot, was shot and killed by rookie Arlington Police Officer Brad Miller, 49, who was undergoing supervised field training when he fired four shots during an alleged confrontation with Taylor, who according to the Tarrant County medical examiner's office, died of gunshot wounds in the neck, chest and abdomen.
Reacting to Taylor's death, tennis star Serena Williams tweeted a message Friday, saying, "Really??????!!!!!!!!!!? are we all sleeping and this is one gigantic bad nightmare? #ChristianTaylor how many hashtags now?"
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Really??????!!!!!!!!!!? are we all sleeping and this is one gigantic bad nightmare? #ChristianTaylor how many hashtags now?
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) August 8, 2015As people search for answers to why he broke into a car dealership at 1 a.m. and was subsequently shot and killed, Taylor's ominous tweets under his user name October 13th, referencing his birthday, on Twitter in the days leading up to his death shows an angst-filled individual who was publicly crying out for help.
He vented on the ongoing battle between rappers like Drake and Meek Mill, racism and not wanting to die young. He was also reportedly religious and was apparently looking to turn his life around.
After the tweet about the devil leaving him alone forever, Taylor, in an apparent cry to God, noted: "I pray he sends me someone to make me feel complete."
During the 11 a.m. Sunday service at Koinonia Christian Church in Arlington, where about 100 of Taylor's classmates gathered to mourn his death, Senior Pastor Ronnie Goines said he had come to him a month ago and wanted to reach teenagers with the Gospel of Jesus, according to the Star Telegram.
"For the last month and a half he [Taylor] talked about how he wanted to change the world and how he wanted to get the message of Jesus Christ out to the teens here before he died," said Goines. "What has happened will make us a little more intentional when we look into the eyes of another young person who wants to change."
On his Twitter profile where he noted that he is from "Blessed, Texas" Taylor wrote: "Consistency is key! Im doing it for the Fallen. Angelo State | Football | Firm believer in God. | Libra | Isaiah 54:17."
The referenced Scripture is a declaration of God's protection which reads: "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."
In subsequent tweets after the one in which he tells the devil to get up off him forever, Taylor appears to have been undergoing some sort of change in which he had started to intentionally hide his eyes behind shades like the rapper Ab-Soul. He appears to be wearing shades in the surveillance video released by the car dealership.
"None of it is fake … I wear shades to hide how pure my eyes are. When I take them off that's when I allow you to see me truly. Now I understand why ab-soul wears shades ...," Taylor wrote on Twitter.
"He knows how powerful his eyes are. ... Think people. … Every picture you see ab-soul in he has shades on. … I'm not lying go research it. Don't be lazy. Don't put limits on yourself," he added.
Ab-Soul, however, doesn't wear shades to hide the purity of his soul or his "powerful eyes."
"I need a corneal transplant," the rapper told Complex when asked about the reason for always wearing shades. "I'm not too excited about doing that. I'ma thug it out as long as I can. It sounds kinda scary, right."
"The biggest thing is light sensitivity," he further told Hot 97. "That's why I always wear shades. Right, the brightness is probably kept best down. I had a good nine, 10 years to see it for real. I kinda remember that a bit. A lot of great things happened in that time. You know what I'm saying? I did some great things in that time.… I hear and memorize. I gotta kinda memorize my steps in a sense. Cause — it's crazy."
Taylor, however, revealed he was overcoming fear of attacks from the devil and he was getting to a point where he had no fear.
"Never believe in fear again. Y'all have seen my change and was like wtf. ... I'm a whole new person. ... Watch …They say never trust your first instinct. ... What if your first instinct is what God what you to follow? Think," Taylor wrote.
"Devil gon try to work if you allow him. ... Make a open palm. And say this is you. Destroy him without your hand that simple and say to never. People gon think you crazy af. ... Channel all that into positive. ... So that you can't see evil just submit to a higher cause as soon as it is," he noted before later retweeting the words "In God I trust."
Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, however, Adrian Taylor, one of Christian Taylor's older brothers, told WFAA that his brother had deep faith, was an accomplished student athlete in both track and football, and didn't deserve to die the way he did.
"Kid made a mistake and it cost him dearly, no one should have to go out that way," said Adrian, who remains puzzled about his brothers decision to break into the car dealership.
In a statement highlighted by NBC News, Darren Lancaster, the general manager of the dealership, called Taylor's death "a tragedy for all people involved" on Saturday. He noted, however, that the teenager was asked to leave even after he had damage vehicles on the lot before police arrived.
"People should be aware that this was not an accident by the man when he drove into the dealership," said Lancaster. "He had already damaged autos on the lot and was told by the video company to leave the premises and that police had been called."
Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson also told reporters that Taylor's death was a tragedy and said if the department's investigation reveals the shooting of the unarmed teenager was not justified there will be "consequences."
"Everything about the outcome of this incident is a tragedy," said Johnson. "Our community is hurting, a family is hurting, and our department is hurting."
"If this was not justified or authorized under the law, there will be consequences," he added.
