‘It Could Have Been Prevented’ Parents of Teen Killed by Career Criminal Speak Out
The parents of a Belmont University student who was tragically killed by the senseless acts of a career criminal are speaking out, and they say that they plan to turn their pain into action.
Matt and Jessica Ludwig spoke with WSMV4 following the death of their daughter, Nashville resident and musician Jillian Ludwig, to express their anger with the broken criminal justice system that allowed Shaquille Taylor, the 29-year-old man accused of shooting Jillian, to live in the community despite his lengthy rap sheet.
Taylor, a career criminal who was recently charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after discharging a firearm into a vehicle that had children inside, was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial by three doctors and subsequently was released into the community in May.
“We are frustrated by this essentially loophole in the system that allows this to happen,” Matt Ludwig told the media outlet. “If there is a determination that someone is mentally unwell, then there should be some way to handle that in a manner that won’t allow them to get back onto the street.”
Not long after Taylor’s release, he went to a street near Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and began shooting a firearm indiscriminately into nearby vehicles and at various targets. Jillian Ludwig, who was just 18-years-old, died after a stray bullet hit her in the head.
“My girl went out on a run in the middle of the afternoon in a park two blocks from campus,” the teen’s mother said. “I mean it’s just unimaginable, and it could have been prevented.”
According to Belmont Vision, “[Taylor] was charged with aggravated assault and tampering with evidence. He admitted to firing shots and said he gave the gun to another person during an interview with detectives, according to a police statement.”
At the time of Jillian’s death, Taylor had an active warrant out for his arrest for failing to appear in court earlier this month on felony auto theft charges. His lengthy criminal history includes charges of robbery, illegal possession of a handgun, and multiple aggravated assaults.
Taylor previously served jail time for contributing to the delinquency of a minor in 2018 and assault in 2016.
“Our anger is with the system that allowed this to happen,” the late teen’s father said. Jessica Ludwig added, “If we can make positive change so her death is not in vain, that’s what we aim to do.”
