May 03, 2024
Thom Carroll/for PhillyVoice
In 2006, Shamari Taylor was kidnapped in West Philadelphia and killed by a group of suspects who allegedly impersonated police officers, federal prosectors say. Five people are now facing charges in the cold case.
Nearly 20 years ago, a Philadelphia man was kidnapped, robbed and killed by a group of suspects that allegedly had been posing as police officers when they abducted him and his girlfriend. More than a decade later, the man's remains were found on a vacant lot in North Philly, reinvigorating a cold case investigation that led to federal charges against five people Friday, prosecutors said.
Shamari Taylor, 26, and his girlfriend, then 21, were kidnapped from a car in West Philly's Overbrook Park neighborhood on Aug. 26, 2006. Their captors allegedly confronted them in a van outfitted with fake police lights at the corner of 76th Street and Woodbine Avenue.
Bound and held at gunpoint, the couple was taken to a warehouse in North Philly, where Taylor was "interrogated and tortured" as a part of a plan to figure out where he was storing cocaine and money, prosecutors said. Taylor was suffocated and his girlfriend was released hours after the abduction.
Taylor was the son of the late state Rep. Jon Myers, who served nine terms in the 201st District in North Philly. Hours after the abduction, Taylor's mother and sister were shot by a pair of intruders at their home in West Philly. At the time, police said they believed the crimes likely were connected.
Taylor's body initially was hidden at Fairmount Park, but was moved days later to a lot in North Philly, investigators said. He remained missing until 2018, when police received a tip that human remains were located on a lot that has since become a charter school, prosecutors said.
The five defendants charged Friday are Kenneth Tuck, 51; Kevin Holloway, 45; Mark Scott, 48; Linton Mathis, 50, and Atiba Wicker, 47. Prosecutors said at least nine people conspired to rob Taylor on the night of the abduction, but no one else has been charged.
Tuck was arrested in September 2006 and charged by the state for his alleged role in Taylor's abduction. He was tried twice on kidnapping, robbery, conspiracy and gun charges. The first trial ended in a hung jury. He was acquitted after the second trial in 2008.
Federal prosecutors alleged Friday that one of Tuck's family members bribed a witness during his state trial in 2007, prompting multiple witnesses to give false testimony in support of Tuck's alibi for his whereabouts on the night of the kidnapping.
Prosecutors said Tuck had been recruited to join a conspiracy to kidnap and rob Taylor while posing as police officers. Holloway and two alleged drug dealers, Scott and Mathis, are accused of participating in the kidnapping and later torturing and killing Taylor.
Wicker, whom investigators said was a friend of Taylor, and an unnamed acquaintance allegedly helped plan the abduction by luring Taylor to the location where he was kidnapped.
The five defendants are charged by indictment with conspiracy to commit kidnapping resulting in death, kidnapping resulting in death, and aiding and abetting.
"Today's charges are the culmination of years of relentless pursuit of justice for Shamari Taylor and his loved ones," Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said. "The nature of this crime, with its elaborate planning, impersonation of law enforcement and brutal execution, underscores the commitment of law enforcement to bring closure to cold cases and hold those responsible fully accountable.
Authorities did not say whether additional charges may be pending against others connected to the case.
"Anyone who commits a heinous crime and is still walking free years later might just assume they've gotten away with it," U.S. Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero said. "Well, they should think again. We and our law enforcement partners will doggedly pursue justice for victims of violence and accountability for the perpetrators — no matter how long it may take."
