Prosecutors seek death for 26-year-old accused in Palm Bay killings
The state attorney’s office is moving forward with seeking the death penalty for a 26-year-old Palm Bay man who police said fatally shot his mother, sister and grandfather and wounded two others, including his 15-year-old nephew, in January.
The notice to pursue the death penalty for the killings, which prosecutors stated were “committed in a cold, calculated and premeditated manner without any pretense of moral or legal justification,” was filed last week.
The Brevard County judge presiding over the case had already ordered Ta’Shawn Taylor to have a mental evaluation, court records show.
Taylor, who family members said had a history of mental health issues, was indicted by a grand jury in February on three counts of first-degree premeditated murder in the Jan. 20 shooting deaths of Lisa Suglam, 31, Angella Suglam, 60, and Stephen Suglam, 79, in the family’s Palm Bay home.
He was also charged with two counts of attempted murder in the shootings of Kamauri Curry, 15, and Gary Taylor, 59, and was scheduled to go before a Brevard County Court judge Wednesday for a first appearance on the formal charge.
He has been assigned a public defender.
The case, depending on the findings of the evaluation, could take years before going to trial.
Kamauri, who police said was wounded by his uncle, continues to recover and is expected to undergo extensive physical therapy during the course of his recovery, family members and friends reported.
The deadly shooting happened about 9:30 p.m. Jan. 20 at Woodlake Village Apartments on Palm Bay Road. Police said Taylor, armed with a laser-scoped handgun, walked into a bedroom where his mother, Angella Suglam, was lying on the bed with two grandchildren, including Kamauri.
Taylor fired several rounds, killing his mother and then critically injuring Kamauri, who was shot in the head, police reported.
Police said Taylor then shot his grandfather, Stephen Suglam, and Lisa Suglam, Taylor’s sister, to death.
Taylor remains held at the Brevard County Jail on a no bond status. His next court hearing will be before Brevard Circuit Court Judge Tesha Scolaro Ballou on May 3 at the Titusville Courthouse.
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/ breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.