Former Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor Released on 25 Thousand Dollars Bail After Shooting his Cousin Multiple Times, ESPN2 IBF Title Bout on October 8 in Jeopardy
By Robert Brizel, Head RCM Boxing Correspondent
Little Rock, AK (August 29th, 2014)– The comeback of former world middleweight champion Jermain Taylor took a turn for the worst Wednesday after he was arrested at his home in Little Rock, Arkansas, for shooting his cousin Tyrone Hinton five times, and also shooting at another individual but missing. Four bullets fired by Taylor passed through Hinton, with the fifth bullet fired by Taylor lodging in Hinton’s pelvis. Taylor, age 36, 32-4-1 with 20 knockouts, has won four bouts in a row on the comeback trail, and was scheduled to fight defending International Boxing Federation World Middleweight champion Sam Soliman of Melbourne, Australia on October 8, 2014, on EPSN2, at Beau Rivage Resort & Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
According Tyrone’s brother, Kevin Hinton, Taylor’s cousin as well, Taylor is sorry, and his brother does not intend to press charges. They expect Tyrone, whose condition has improved, to make a full recovery after surgery tomorrow. “It’s hard, but knowing he’s gonna be alright (my brother Tyrone), makes it so much better. It really didn’t matter what happened or what he did, or what was said. How did it get this far?” stated Kevin Hinton. “I talked to Jermain, he’s real sorry, remorseful. It doesn’t negate the fact my brother’s lying in the hospital, absolutely not. We are a family, and we’ll work it out as family, we’ll work it out.”
Taylor’s cousin Tyrone Hinton works for Taylor, opening his boxing gym every day.
On August 27, 2014, Taylor’s wife Erica called 911 before 7 P.M. and notified police about an intruder on the family property. Mrs. Taylor called the police again at 7 P.M., after an altercation at the Taylor residence. Police arrested Taylor at home, and charged him with first degree domestic battery and aggravated assault. The shooting victim is currently hospitalized in serious condition. The facts surrounding the incident are unclear.
Taylor pled not guilty in court, and was released into the custody of a bail bondsman after posting twenty five thousand dollars bail USD. Jermain Taylor might be innocent, based on the earlier 911 call by his wife. It remains unclear whether the incident took place inside or outside the home, and whether or not what occurred which could have frightened the family and caused safety concerns, prompting a self-defense shooting.
Jermain was calm, quiet and cooperative when police arrived, and left peacefully. There must be an argument for self-defense in the case, as a bail bondsman got Jermain Taylor immediately released. Strangely, the two victims, one of whom was shot, were found by police nearby at a Dollar General discount store-not the hospital-which is where one would presume a shooting victim would go-that is, if the ‘victim’ had nothing to hide-which makes the entire incident very questionable.
District Judge Wayne Gruber granted a request from Taylor’s lawyer to let the athlete travel out-of-state to train for the Soliman title bout. ESPN2, which has a contractual agreement for the IBF title bout, is undecided if the title bout will take place as planned.
Taylor held the world middleweight title from 2005 to 2007, and holds two wins over famed Bernard Hopkins. Neither of the two individuals who entered the Taylor home were armed at the time of the shooting. Taylor is represented by attorney Allison Allred of Little Rock.
Former World Welterweight champion Robert Guerrero pled guilty to disorderly conduct for trying to check an unloaded firearm in a locked box upon arrival at JFK Airport on March 28, 2014, before his fight with Floyd Mayweather. Guerrero had a legal firearms permit in Nevada, not New York. Guerrero’s plea bargain was a $250 fine and 80 hours of community service in his home state of California. Former WBC world heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick was murdered by blows to the head with a two inch steel pipe by his nephew Harold Berbick on October 28, 2006, at a church in Norwich, Jamaica over a land dispute. Harold Berbick was found guilty of the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. An accomplice was found guilty of manslaughter and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Former IBF World Lightweight champion Paul Spadafora pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and a weapons violation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in December 2004 for shooting his fiancée Nadine Russo in the backside on October 26, 2003, because he was upset she had flattened two tires on his Hummer vehicle. Prosecutors dropped charges of attempted homicide and reckless endangerment, stating the homicide charge would have been dropped as Spadafora’s fiancée would not have testified against him. Spadafora, 38, won an eight round decision over Hector Velasquez at Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh this past July.
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