LEON COUNTY, FL. (WTXL) - It's been almost nine years since Barney Taylor Sr. was robbed at gunpoint and murdered. A prominent local business owner, Taylor was preparing for payday on the morning he was killed. Investigators are still trying to figure out who shot Taylor, his sons believe their dad knew his killer.
Taylor's oldest son Barney Taylor Jr. remembers the call in that horrific morning, "I was headed to work pretty early in the morning a little after 6 or so and one of the guys from work called me and said the office door was cracked when he got here and he could see daddy laying on the floor."
September 21, 2007 68 year old Barney Taylor Sr. is found gunned down at his job, Tallahassee Roofing INC., where he and his sons worked together.
Sgt. Brian Pearson with The Leon County Sheriff's Office is leading the investigation, "During our course of the investigation we found there was no forced entry into the business, so there is a theory that Mr. Taylor may have known his killer. When deputies got there they determined that Mr. Taylor had succumbed to injuries due to gunshot wounds and we determined that to be a homicide."
Almost nine years later the killer remains on the loose and detectives are no closer to an arrest now than in 2007. Taylor Jr. says, if it wasn't for a call from a friend he may have been there with his father that day at work.
Taylor says, "I would have actually been here when it happened I think except I was three quarters of the way here when a friend of mine called me and said his vehicle wouldn't crank so I turned it around to take him to work and before I got to his house I got the call."
Taylor often arrived to work before anyone else especially on paydays and always kept the doors locked until his employees arrived to work. Detectives believe Taylor let his killer in before he was shot multiple times. Family members believe money may have been the motive for his murder. The only thing missing that morning was over $10,000 in cash.
As time goes on, Taylor says, dealing with the loss of their father doesn't get any easier, "We still go on because he spent his life building this. I'm sorry it's tougher than I thought doing this. He would want us too. we got to for him other than anything else. This was his life."
Seven years later the case has changed hands but detectives remain committed to finding justice for the family.
According to Sgt. Pearson, "During this investigation detectives that have worked the case with the assistance of leads from citizens, with assistance of leads from the family members and from our investigation we were able to develop several people who are of strong interest to the sheriff's office."
Taylor says, "You have to come to peace with it and move on but this is something we want to get solved and resolved."
The family is offering a $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. According to the Leon County Sheriff's Office, the next step moving forward is for current and past detectives who have worked the case to come together for collaboration. The goal is to revisit evidence and go over any details they may have missed, all to find out the mystery of Who Killed Barney Taylor.
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