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Double Slaying Leaves Daughter Without Father

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By KEITH MORELLI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 22, 2008

TAMPA - Gerald Bruce Taylor Jr., who authorities say was shot to death by the jealous estranged husband of a woman Taylor had just started dating, left behind a grieving family, including a 7-year-old daughter, who are trying to come to grips with the tragedy.

With tears welling in his eyes and emotion choking his voice, Taylor's father, Gerald, said he never expected to get the call about his oldest child. The boy was an avid golfer and excelled in sports in his younger days. He was never in trouble.

He was all-state in West Virginia high school baseball; all-district in football and an honor student, he said. He attended West Virginia University, where the young man kept his spirit up as a cheerleader.

"He loves all sports," the elder Taylor said. "He bleeds Mountaineer blood."

Whenever the Mountaineers came to Tampa to play USF, Gerald Taylor Jr., would be there, his father said.

"They're coming down next year," he said. "Of course, he won't be there."

Taylor, 43, was shot in the neck while at the home of Elizabeth Evans, 44, early Saturday night. Evans was dead at the scene. Taylor survived the trip to the hospital, but died soon after.

Pinellas County sheriff's deputies have charged Evans' husband, Patrick, 41, with two counts of first-degree murder. He remained in Pinellas County Jail on Monday. Bail had not been set.

Deputies were called to Elizabeth Evans' home in the Sea Ketch condominium complex at 6080 Gulfport Blvd. S., just after 7 p.m. Saturday in response to a 911 hang-up call, deputies said.

Patrick Evans, of 333 Hermosita Drive, St. Pete Beach, and his estranged wife had separated for about eight months and were in the process of divorcing.

He had worked as vice president of Global Business Units at Jabil until recently. It was unclear whether he was among the 253 Jabil employees laid off recently. According to his LinkedIn Web site, Evans graduated from the University of Tampa summa cum laude and had worked for the St. Petersburg-based electronics giant for 19 years. He lived in a two-story, 4,400-square-foot home on the water that is worth more than $1 million, according to the Pinellas County property appraiser's records.

Taylor, who grew up in northern Virginia and was the oldest of two brothers and two sisters, lived in a 2,500-square-foot, four-bedroom $433,000 home in the Waterchase subdivision in northwest Hillsborough County.

He had been a supervisor in distributions at several companies that took him all over the northeast from Boston to Pittsburgh to Wilkes-Barre, Pa., to Washington, D.C., his father said.

He ended up at the Home Shopping Network in St. Petersburg, where he directed distribution until about a year ago, when he took a job at Tech Data, where Evans worked as a marketing manager.

The two had just started dating, deputies said.

"We don't know anything about her," Taylor's father said on Monday, saying his son had never mentioned his new girlfriend.

His son leaves a 7-year-old daughter who lives in Pittsburgh.

"He goes up there every month to see her," said the elder Taylor who is retired and lives with his wife in Holiday. "He's a devoted dad. He lives for her."

Work colleagues, old and new friends and acquaintances have all been calling, the father said.

"He was one the best-liked persons I ever met," the grieving father said. "All of his college friends talk about him that way, too. He'll be missed by everybody."

"He didn't deserve any of this," said Taylor's sister, who lives in Georgia and didn't wish to give her name. "He was a great guy."

Although he had lived in the Tampa Bay area for about nine years, he kept in touch with his relatives out of state, she said.

"I spoke to him four days before he died," she said. "He called to say happy birthday and ask how my son was doing."

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at kmorelli@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7760.

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