Taylor Hayes, 7, dies two weeks after being shot in car
BALTIMORE — A 7-year-old Baltimore girl shot in the backseat of a car two weeks ago died Thursday — becoming to many a sad symbol of out-of-control crime in one of America’s most murderous cities.
The city had been rallying behind Taylor Hayes — holding vigils and prayer services since a bullet pierced through the trunk of a Honda Accord and into the little girl’s back in Southwest Baltimore on July 5. And the airwaves have been flooded with outrage and calls for tougher law enforcement to stem the violence.
Travon Anthony, a Baltimore man who works as an event manager, captured the sentiments of many on Thursday, tweeting:
I’m sorry that you’ll never know the feeling of adulthood or even being a teenager, wife, or mother….that you had to fight for your life and ultimately lose it at the age of 7. I’m sorry that as a city, we failed you. I hope that you can forgive us. #RIP to ❤ #TaylorHayes pic.twitter.com/bRiBQTrzQM
— Travon Anthony (@TravonAnthony) 19 July 2018
The day after Taylor was shot, police arrested the driver of the car she had been in, Darnell Holmes, 33, charging her with firearms and drug offenses, and released a video of a white Mercedes-Benz seen nearby. Police are still seeking the Mercedes and its driver.
Baltimore — beset by bloody drug disputes, rampant police corruption and soaring murder rates since the April 2105 death of Freddie Gray — ended 2017 with 297 slayings, by far the highest murder rate among big cities in the U.S.
This article is republished with permission from Talk Media News.
Gary Gately, a seasoned journalist, has won 15 national, regional and local awards for reporting and writing news, investigative, public service, feature, business and travel pieces. Gately’s work has been published by The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Baltimore Sun (where he worked in reporting and editing jobs for 11 years), Baltimore Examiner, the Chicago Tribune, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Dallas Morning News, Business Week, Newsweek, Arrive Magazine, The Center for Public Integrity, CBSNews.com, CNBC.com, ABCNews.com, USAToday.com, HealthDay, The Crime Report, United Press International and numerous other newspapers, websites and magazines.
His coverage has received awards from the Associated Press, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild, the Maryland-Delaware-D.C. Press Association and the Society of American Travel Writers (first-place Lowell Thomas Award for best newspaper travel story/U.S.-Canada (immigrant New York).
Gately also has extensive experience editing for newspapers and websites, has taught college journalism courses in news writing, magazine writing and travel writing and is the author of Maryland: Anthem to Innovation, a book on the state’s history, industries and attractions.