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Va. man is victim in shooting at bar
Killing occurs near the time fight starts outside
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009
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Investigators have developed several leads but have not made any arrests in the Indian Head bar shooting that killed a 24-year-old man and wounded a St. Mary's County resident early Saturday morning, according to police.
Victor Simon Taylor-Lewis of Alexandria, Va., could have been involved in an argument that erupted in the parking lot of Mattawoman Restaurant, but it's not yet clear whether he was part of the fight, according to Diane Richardson, spokeswoman for the Charles County Sheriff's Office.
It appears that the second victim, 23, of Lexington Park, was sitting in a sport utility vehicle listening to music with three friends when a stray bullet struck him, Richardson said.
Police got a call about a shooting at the bar at 1:09 a.m., but when they arrived, there were no victims on the scene, she said.
Witnesses said they saw a black SUV speeding away after the shooting, and sheriff's officers issued a lookout. Police spotted the SUV on Hawthorne Road near Quailwood Parkway in La Plata, and in the backseat, they found the 23-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his back, Richardson said. The man was taken to a hospital and treated for an injury that was not life-threatening.
Around the same time, police learned that Taylor-Lewis, who had multiple gunshot wounds, had been dropped off at the Fort Washington Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The people who brought Taylor-Lewis to the hospital said they received a call that he was injured and instructions to pick him up near a post office in Indian Head, according to Richardson. Taylor-Lewis' friends transferred him from a waiting car to their vehicle and took him to the hospital, Richardson said.
Someone called police to say Taylor-Lewis was in the post office area, but when authorities arrived, he had already been taken to the hospital, Richardson said.
Investigators believe both men were shot at Mattawoman Restaurant and don't think the victims knew each other. Several witnesses reported that an argument broke out in the parking lot before the shooting, but the exact sequence of events is unclear, Richardson said.
"We're still putting all those pieces together," she said.
Police do not have any descriptions of a possible shooter or a suspect vehicle.
Diane Martin, whom Taylor-Lewis called his "mom No. 2," said he had recently been turning his life around. Taylor-Lewis was charged in October with assaulting and breaking into the home of an Indian Head woman, but since then he had been trying to stay out of trouble and win over Martin's daughter, she said.
"To get with her, he would do anything," Martin said. "When he was around us, he was so happy and a totally different person than everybody else thought."
Shortly before his death, Taylor-Lewis mentioned "there was this guy he was beefing with," and Martin said she believes the shooting had something to do with the October incident.
But after his arrest last month, Taylor-Lewis had started to distance himself from his old crowd, according to De'Anna Parker, another mother figure in his life.
"I think he was tired of the life he was living," she said. "He was becoming a man."
Parker said that Taylor-Lewis was known for telling people to "man up" when they showed weakness. He had a tough persona and wouldn't look for trouble, though he wouldn't back down.
At the same time, Parker said Taylor-Lewis was a sweetheart who showed up to virtually all her son's football games and was "always trying to make sure he had someone there to love him."
When news of the shooting reached her, Parker couldn't believe Taylor-Lewis had been killed and kept hoping the reports were referring to someone else. On Tuesday, when she saw his body, all doubts were erased, and she said the reality began to sink in. At least, Parker said, she knows that Taylor-Lewis is at rest.
"He doesn't have to man up anymore. He doesn't have to defend anybody or defend himself. He can just be at peace," Parker said.
A man who answered the phone at Taylor-Lewis' home and identified himself as the victim's brother declined to comment, saying it isn't a good time for the family.
A manager at Mattawoman Restaurant wouldn't remark on the shooting or give his name, but said the establishment is a safe place.
Detectives are asking anyone with additional information to call sheriff's detective John Elliott at 301-609-6515. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 866-411-TIPS.
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