Dennis Taylor
A 15-year-old boy a student in Prince George’s County public schools has been shot and killed in Prince George’s County, Maryland, county police said.
Officers were called to the shooting in the 2200 block of Columbia Place in Landover about 9:40 p.m., police said. They found the boy with a gunshot wound to the upper body.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they recovered a handgun from the scene.
The grandmother has identified the victim to the press as her 15-year-old grandson Dennis Taylor.
According to WUSA9, the grandmother said, Dennis was her whole heart.
He was shot just a few doors down from his house on Columbia Place in Landover, Md. Neighbors say they heard three gunshots around 9:40 Saturday night.
Brianna Williams said Taylor was walking to a family cookout when he received a text and turned around to go home.
“He just said, ‘no I’m not going to come no more’, and then he left, right there,” she said.
Just a few minutes later he was shot.
Karren Forges lives on the same block. She is a trained nurse and rushed to give the boy CPR.
She said he wasn’t alive by the time she got to him.
“I’m not the doctor, I didn’t feel a pulse, so I initiated CPR, trying to bring him back with us,” Forges said.
Forges says she was disappointed the paramedics didn’t use a defibrillator, but the paramedics said the boy was pronounced dead when they arrived.
Dennis Taylor was known among friends as “lil chic.”
Until last month, he was a student at Brookland Middle School.
Wendy Hamilton, an attendance councilor at the school, went to pay her respects with the family Sunday.
She said Taylor was popular, especially with the girls. She said he was known to everyone.
“I want him to know, that he will be so deeply missed,” she said. “I’m sure he knows that but, it’s going to be hard tomorrow. We’re going to get grief councilors on site.”
Taylor’s mother was too upset to talk. He was the second oldest of four boys.
Linda Taylor described her grandson as her main heart.
“I lost my one, my baby,” she said.
Prince George’s County Police say they don’t believe the shooting was random. Police recovered a gun at the scene. Investigators are searching for anyone involved in the shooting and a motive for the crime.
The Taylor family has started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to cover the cost of funeral expenses. They are planning a vigil for Monday night.
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PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY PARENTS, MARYLAND BLOG 