UPDATE
Reported By: Jamie Holmes
Photgrapher: Eric Pasquarelli
Jakaris Taylor on Thursday was all smiles as he stepped out of the West Palm Beach Police Department and mugged for cameras.
By Friday, he looked a little more solemn as he stood before a judge, his hair covering his face.
Perhaps 24 hours behind bars was enough to make him realize no one else was laughing. He met with his court appointed attorney Friday morning, and spent enough time with him to tell him he was innocent of participating in the gang rape of a mother by as many as ten men in Dunbar Village.
"He's indicated to me that he was not involved with the incident, that he had nothing to do with the attack and from what I've learned from the evidence, so far there's no reason to think otherwise," says his attorney Chris Haddad.
Talk to Taylor's family and they'll tell you he was a good boy, who played basketball for the Police Athletic League.
He is in the 8th grade, his father died when he was ten and Taylor, says his loved ones who did not want to go on camera, is misunderstood.
"He's a very polite young man," added Haddad.
Taylor's grandmother and mother did their best and tried to raise him in a neighborhood filled with temptation.
Police believe he succumbed.
Taylor had a record for robbery, and sped through the juvenile justice system back in January. This time he most likely won't be as lucky.
Police say Taylor left fingerprints behind at the crime scene. His family wants to know where.
They tell NewsChannel 5 Taylor's younger sister often played with the victim's son and Taylor may have visited the house and left the prints. That scenario isn't meshing with what Taylor has given investigators.
He told them he's never been to the victim's home. The fifteen year old isn't saying much else. Neither is 14-year old Avion Lawson nor 16-year old Nathan Walker.
There's been no real cooperation, no one has shown any remorse, in fact there has been no real emotion expressed at all.
We're told Taylor's smirking for the camera is more or less the cavalier attitude displayed by the other two suspects.
But how long will it last?
How long before the possibility of life behind bars convinces one of these teenagers to start talking?
***
Reported By: Jamie Holmes
Photographer: Eric Pasquarelli
Fifteen year old Jakaris Taylor all but signed autographs as he was escorted out of the police department Thursday.
Those who know him in Dunbar Village though say he's just playing cool as he smiled for the cameras. Instead they say he's known to cry easily and behind the grin he's a scared kid who's in more trouble than perhaps he knows.
He, like the other two teens charged with the attack, will likely face prosecution as an adult. Since he is black and the victim is Haitian he could also be charged with a hate crime.
"We're going to discuss that with the State Attorney's Office. I can't discuss details, but speaking with the individuals involved there doesn't seem to be any motive or purpose," says West Palm Beach Police Chief Delsa Bush.
The chief and Mayor Lois Frankel fielded plenty of questions Thursday night, not only from the South Florida media, but from residents of Dunbar who they met with behind closed doors.
Many were bussed in and some hid their faces from the cameras, all that just to tell the city change should come to their neighborhood.
"At least it gave residents an opportunity to vent their feelings about what's going on. Because next week you all will go onto your next story, but they're going to still be living there. And we see this as a long term issue," says Frankel.
Better security gates, more security, a curfew were just some of the suggestions batted around by roughly fifty residents who attended the hour long meeting. The city has heard it before, and a stronger police presence has come to Dunbar over the last few weeks.
Still, problems persist.
Wednesday night a frantic Citoya Greenwood woke up as gunshots shattered her night's sleep and once again woke up her four year old daughter.
"All I can ensure her is that it's only going to get better and that her mommy is trying to make an impact to make her safety better," says Greenwood.
There was a lot of attention on this meeting, perhaps more so because the media wasn't allowed inside. But the real story remains in Dunbar Village.
"My mom is saying the lady got raped, everybody is saying the lady got raped," says one little girl as she plays with our cameraman.
This is a place where children grow up fast, one now scarred by a crime that will haunt its name for years. Still it's a neighborhood where good people are trying to make it better.
"Don't look down on us," says Greenwood. "Give us a helping hand."
***
Reported by: WPTV Staff
There has been a third arrest in the Dunbar Village rape case. Fifteen year old Jakaris Taylor is the latest to be charged with the gang rape of a mother in front of her child.
Taylor is expect in court later today. We have crews on scene and will bring you an updates on WPTV Newschannel 5 and on WPTV.com as we receive them.
***
Reported by: Jamie Holmes
Photographed by: Blain Logan
First was 14 year old Avion Lawson.
Now 16-year old Nathan Walker is the latest to be charged with the gang rape of a mother in front of her child.
The victim told investigators ten men came into her home and raped her in front of her eleven year old son. She also said the suspects poured household cleaning products in her child's eyes and forced her son to partipate in the sex attack.
Walker was charged with armed sexual battery by multiple perpetrators with a firearm while masked, armed home invasion, sexual performance by a child and aggravated battery.
Those who know Walker described him as a follower who fell in with the wrong crowd. He did not live at Dunbar Village, but hung out there on a daily basis.
Police say Walker did not confess to the crime, and said he did not know the victim. Investigators however say they found Walker's hand print on the scene.
Prosecutors plan on charging Lawson as an adult. Since Walker is charged with the same crimes, he likely will also be charged as an adult.
Walker will make his first appearance before a judge Friday morning.
