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'If I was going to die, I wanted to make it home to Mama's'
Fort Valley shooting victim tells of his ordeal
By Liz Fabian
Telegraph Staff Writer
When a Fort Valley man with a bullet hole in his head walked nearly two miles this week, he was determined to reach his destination.
Larry Taylor was headed to his mother's home.
"If I was going to die, I wanted to make it home to Mama's and die there," Taylor, 37, said Christmas Eve while recuperating at his sister's house.
Taylor's mom no longer lives in the abandoned house to which he was heading. A nursing home is where she spends her days and nights. But today, she'll gather with her son and the rest of her family to celebrate.
"We're all going to meet at the (sister's) family house and enjoy each other," said Taylor's cousin, Barbara Jones. "We'll share stories of good times and bad."
When she heard Taylor was shot, she just knew he was going to die, she said.
Taylor was walking to a friend's house Monday at about 9 p.m. when a man approached on Pine Street and asked to use Taylor's cell phone, he said.
"I said, 'No,' then he said he would take the phone," Taylor recounted. "I said, 'No,' then he pulled out the gun and shot me in the head. I didn't even know I was hit until I felt the blood coming down my face."
Fort Valley police arrested Sammy Williams, 27, Thursday morning and charged him with aggravated assault and armed robbery, Lt. Lawrence Spurgeon said Thursday.
"I don't know why he's charged with aggravated assault when he tried to kill me. But I haven't talked with police," said Taylor, who was released from The Medical Center of Central Georgia on Thursday.
Attempts to reach Spurgeon were unsuccessful Friday.
Police said Taylor walked about an hour and a half when he came to a closed convenience store. He couldn't make it any farther, and used the pay phone to call police, Taylor said.
His aching head remains swollen, he said. A bullet wound over his left eye leads to the exit wound over his left ear, he said.
"A half of a half of an inch lower and I would have been dead," Taylor said.
His cousin said the doctors have warned there could be side effects of the injury.
"He really has to be careful because his life is different, because he can have seizures now," Jones said.
But Taylor said he can laugh about it now and considers the shooting an isolated holiday crime. "It always happens. People get robbed this close to Christmas. They don't want to spend their money to get stuff," he said.
He's really looking forward to spending time with his mother and others he loves. "I'm still getting visitors and phone calls and everything and thanking God."
Fort Valley shooting victim tells of his ordeal
By Liz Fabian
Telegraph Staff Writer
When a Fort Valley man with a bullet hole in his head walked nearly two miles this week, he was determined to reach his destination.
Larry Taylor was headed to his mother's home.
"If I was going to die, I wanted to make it home to Mama's and die there," Taylor, 37, said Christmas Eve while recuperating at his sister's house.
Taylor's mom no longer lives in the abandoned house to which he was heading. A nursing home is where she spends her days and nights. But today, she'll gather with her son and the rest of her family to celebrate.
"We're all going to meet at the (sister's) family house and enjoy each other," said Taylor's cousin, Barbara Jones. "We'll share stories of good times and bad."
When she heard Taylor was shot, she just knew he was going to die, she said.
Taylor was walking to a friend's house Monday at about 9 p.m. when a man approached on Pine Street and asked to use Taylor's cell phone, he said.
"I said, 'No,' then he said he would take the phone," Taylor recounted. "I said, 'No,' then he pulled out the gun and shot me in the head. I didn't even know I was hit until I felt the blood coming down my face."
Fort Valley police arrested Sammy Williams, 27, Thursday morning and charged him with aggravated assault and armed robbery, Lt. Lawrence Spurgeon said Thursday.
"I don't know why he's charged with aggravated assault when he tried to kill me. But I haven't talked with police," said Taylor, who was released from The Medical Center of Central Georgia on Thursday.
Attempts to reach Spurgeon were unsuccessful Friday.
Police said Taylor walked about an hour and a half when he came to a closed convenience store. He couldn't make it any farther, and used the pay phone to call police, Taylor said.
His aching head remains swollen, he said. A bullet wound over his left eye leads to the exit wound over his left ear, he said.
"A half of a half of an inch lower and I would have been dead," Taylor said.
His cousin said the doctors have warned there could be side effects of the injury.
"He really has to be careful because his life is different, because he can have seizures now," Jones said.
But Taylor said he can laugh about it now and considers the shooting an isolated holiday crime. "It always happens. People get robbed this close to Christmas. They don't want to spend their money to get stuff," he said.
He's really looking forward to spending time with his mother and others he loves. "I'm still getting visitors and phone calls and everything and thanking God."
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