10 Years Later: Fans, Teammates Remember Sean Taylor

Fans and former teammates are pausing to remember NFL star Sean Taylor, who was murdered in his Miami, Florida, home 10 years ago.

Taylor, who was a Pro Bowl safety for the Washington Redskins and former University of Miami star, died from injuries he received in a botched home invasion in November 2007. He was only 24 years old. 

Taylor's former teammates, Santana Moss and Clinton Portis, sat down with News4's Carol Maloney to talk about their last words to their friend and how his death has changed their lives.

"When that happened, I start looking at my kids, I start looking at my family, I start looking at things I took for granted," Moss said. "Thinking that everyday was just promised."

  • See News4's Carol Maloney's interview with Santana Moss and Clinton Portis on News4 at 5 p.m. 

Fans also took to social media to remember the star athlete. 

"Today marks 10 years since death of Sean Taylor, a decade of his physical absence, but not a day has passed without remembering his passion, toughness and talent on the field," David Menassé wrote on Twitter.

Since his death, four men have been convicted in his death. They're serving sentences spanning from 18 years to life in prison. 

One of the suspect confessed that the group had driven to Taylor's house planning to steal large amounts of cash he kept inside. They thought Taylor would be out of town at a game against Tampa Bay, but didn't realize until it was too late that he was home with a knee injury. Taylor's then-girlfriend, Jackie Garcia Haley, and their 18-month-old daughter were also home at the time. They were not hurt.

Taylor was shot in the upper thigh, damaging his femoral artery and causing massive blood loss. 

Aside from the confession, police found shoe prints outside Taylor's home that matched sneakers some in the group were wearing that night. 

Taylor signed an $18 million contract with the team and was becoming one of the NFL's top defensive players when he was slain. Several witnesses testified that he liked to keep large amounts of cash around his Miami house.

One of the men charged in the slaying, 25-year-old Jason Mitchell, attended a birthday party a few weeks earlier at the house for Taylor's half-sister, Sasha Johnson — who lived in Fort Myers and knew one of the suspects. She testified that Taylor gave her a purse containing $10,000 in cash at the party, which was witnessed by all the guests.

That event put the wheels in motion for the burglary plot, witnesses said.

Taylor was a star at the University of Miami and was a first-round pick of the Redskins in the 2004 NFL draft.

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