An Indiana man was taken into custody on Thursday regarding the fatal shooting of his father after deputies had twice visited the location before finding the 50-year-old deceased in his room.
Joshua Taylor died from multiple gunshots to the head, WISH reported. His son, 28-year-old Wyatt Taylor, has been charged with murder.
The Decatur County Sheriff’s Office received their first welfare check call concerning Taylor shortly after midnight on Tuesday when his brother reached out. As stated in an affidavit of probable cause, the brother mentioned that his nephew, who had recently moved in with Joshua Taylor, had asked him over the phone, “Should I do it or should I go to bed?” according to Law&Crime.
The brother failed to contact Joshua Taylor, and soon after, Wyatt contacted him again, “asking for a ride.” During the call to the police, he reported hearing smoke alarms in the background while his nephew claimed “he was just cooking pizza.”
The uncle asked again to speak with his brother, but was again denied.
Upon responding to the uncle’s welfare request, deputies encountered Wyatt outside, who “re-asserted that he had cooked a pizza causing the smoke detectors to go off,” indicating there was no need for assistance, prompting the officers to depart.
The uncle requested the officers to return. Approximately 20 minutes later, they went back and were once more met by Wyatt Taylor in the driveway. When questioned about his father, “Wyatt told them that Joshua was sleeping,” the affidavit noted.
Nonetheless, the younger man allowed the officers inside and led them to a bedroom on the first floor. Taylor switched on a light, pointed to his father in the bed, and stated, “He’s right there.”
Deputies confirmed that Joshua Taylor was dead, “noting head and neck gunshot wounds.”
“They also noted multiple spent bullet casings in plain view in the bedroom,” the affidavit said.
Wyatt Taylor told the deputies there was no one else at the home and said he’d been drinking.
Deputies found no evidence of a burned pizza.
Upstairs, deputies found a firearm of the same caliber as the spent casings, WISH reported.
In an interview after he was taken into custody, Wyatt Taylor told the deputies he had moved back to Indiana from Utah two weeks ago and claiming that his father had been “throwing up gang signs” and said he had feared for his life.
Taylor has a pretrial conference set for October 7 with the murder trial expected to begin in February.
