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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – For 33 years, Edward Clayton Taylor, 57, was imprisoned. Just a month ago, his conviction in a 1986 sexual assault of a 4-year-old girl was vacated.
Authorities confirmed to News4JAX on Monday that Taylor was arrested and charged with attempted murder. Records show the shooting occurred Friday night on A. Phillip Randolph Boulevard. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said in that shooting, a man was hospitalized for treatment of injuries that were described as non-life-threatening.
News4JAX has requested Taylor’s arrest report. A statement from the State Attorney’s Office is forthcoming.
Records show he was held in the Duval County jail on a $1.1 million bond and is scheduled to appear in court on July 18.
Notably, Taylor had served his time and been released from prison when he was exonerated.
In 1986, the then-4-year-old, Stephanie McIntyre, who’s now known as Stephanie Love, lived next door to Taylor, his son, his mother, his brother and his half-brother. Love was childhood friends with Taylor’s son, Jermaine.
The child tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease, which led to a law enforcement investigation.
Taylor was identified by the child as someone who touched her. He was arrested at age 21, tried and convicted of sexual battery of the child, who testified at the trial about what was done to her during a sleepover at Taylor’s house.
In 2010, the Innocence Project got involved in the case and found discrepancies — and it filed a motion to vacate the conviction and sentence. The State Attorney’s Office didn’t object.
Documents show the then-child identified the alleged rapist as “Jermaine’s daddy,” but investigation documents show Love said Jermaine had “two daddies” and “three daddies,” referring to Taylor’s brothers. Authorities never showed the child all photos of all three. There was never any DNA evidence linking Taylor to the child.
In its conclusion, the state wrote in part:
“Because there was no physical evidence linking Taylor to the crime, the defense theory of the case was that Love had misidentified Taylor. The evidence of 4-year-old Love’s statements that Jermaine had multiple daddies, which indicated confusion on her part over the identity of Jermaine’s daddy, was exculpatory and material. Love now believes that she identified the wrong person and has conveyed her belief to Florida’s Parole Commission, Taylor’s counsel, and the CIR.”
