Death and Memorial

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       On the night of November 26, 2007, four teens broke into the Taylor residence at 1:45 a.m. while Sean and his girlfriend were sleeping. According to his girlfriend Jackie Garcia, Sean wielded a machete in self-defense and proceeded to investigate what was going on. Sean was shot in the leg by one of the intruders when he confronted them. The teens fled and Garcia called the police immediately. After a delayed response, Taylor was eventually airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. The doctors operated on Sean until 12:30 p.m. and the results were not good. Due to the gunshot wound that severed his femoral artery, Sean had lost a lot of blood and remained in a coma. The doctors speculated Sean had brain damage due to blood loss.

       Around twenty-six hours after the initial wound, Sean was pronounced dead at Jackson Memorial Center at 3:30 a.m.

       A memorial service was held on December 3. 4,000 people showed up to Pharmed Arena at Florida International University. In attendance was the entire Washington Redskins association, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, and various professional athletes. The funeral service was nationally televised on ESPN. Following the service, Taylor was buried near his Palmetto Bay, Florida home.

       In honor of Taylor, every team in the NFL wore a "21" decal on the back of their helmets in Sean's honor. Also, on the Redskin's opening defensive series days after Sean's death, the team took the field with ten players in honor of Sean.