Man testifies that he shot former Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor in robbery case
A man on trial in the slaying of Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor admitted to breaking into the NFL player’s home, kicking down the bedroom door and shooting Taylor, and drew a detailed diagram of the house, labeling himself as the shooter, according to a videotaped confession played for the jury Thursday.
Defendant Eric Rivera Jr. wasn’t handcuffed but came willingly to talk to authorities in Fort Myers in November 2007, a Miami-Dade police detective testified. At first Rivera would not admit to anything that happened to the incident, but now is admitting to pulling the trigger on Taylor.
“He was like 2 feet away, got something in his hand and that’s when I shot,” he said.
That’s when Rivera’s eyes grew teary and he nodded that he had been involved. Rivera and four co-defendants heard Taylor liked to keep a lot of cash around the house, maybe as much as $200,000. They thought Taylor would be with the Redskins at a game at Tampa Bay the night they broke into his house but instead he was home with a knee injury, the detective said Rivera told him.
The plan was to “go in and get the money and leave,” Rivera said in a videotaped confession played for the jury.
Rivera admitted driving the black SUV, parking in front of Taylor’s home, hopping a concrete wall and using a crowbar to break into a back patio door. As they searched the home for money, they heard a noise, got spooked and ran back to the car. When they re-entered, Rivera said he kicked in Taylor’s bedroom door.
NFL Draft Diamonds was created to assist the underdogs playing the sport. We call them diamonds in the rough. My name is Damond Talbot, I have worked extremely hard to help hundreds of small school players over the past several years, and will continue my mission. We have several contributors on this site, and if they contribute their name and contact will be in the piece above. You can email me at nfldraftdiamonds@gmail.com