Services Thursday for motorcyclist shot in Cape shooting spree
Jeremy Charles Taylor, devoted grandfather, father, son and husband, will be laid to rest Thursday.
A police-escorted funeral procession will begin at his southwest Cape Coral home and cross the intersection of Veterans Parkway and Skyline Boulevard where he was shot to death while riding his motorcycle. The memorial motorcade will then make its way to Mullins Memorial Funeral Home & Cremation Services where a 1 p.m. service will be held.
Those who wish to pay their respects in advance of the funeral are expected to gather at the intersection where he died as the procession passes through at approximately 11:15 to 11:20 a.m.
Taylor, 54, was the first person shot in a shotgun spree-shooting that left three people wounded and three people dead, including the gunman, later identified as Christopher Michael Moran, 31, of 901 S.E. 8th Terrace No. 6.
Less than an hour after shooting Taylor along the roadway, Moran shot and killed Sean Strickland, 26, of Cape Coral, an employee at the Circle K at 1603 W. Cape Coral Parkway, and wounded Richard Huwiler, 61, of Cape Coral, a customer at the store. Huwiler sustained a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.
Following the second shooting, responding officers quickly encountered the vehicle Moran was driving at the intersection of Skyline and the parkway. The car was stopped near the 5100 block of Skyline and Moran, who officials say was still armed and “violently resisted,” was shot dead by police.
Two passengers in the car, Maria A. Rodriguez, 32, and Christopher Moran Jr., 14 months, were injured.
According to his obituary posted on the Mullins Memorial website, Taylor had been a Cape Coral resident for more than 14 years. Born in Birmingham, England, he and his family – wife, Rosemary, and children, Louise Michelle and Shaun Michael – moved to the Cape in 2001. He brought with him a passion for restoring motorcycles and a love of water sports, fresh water fishing and boating while “creating a new life” in Southwest Florida.
“He began working for Aluminations as a shop foreman, manufacturing spiral staircases, railings, and different kinds of metal work,” his obituary states. “His most recent job before passing was at Synergy Boatlifts, where he was the shop foreman, manufacturing boatlifts and working on other projects for the owner, George Becker. He considered this to be his dream job. Adapting to the Florida lifestyle, he loved to spend his weekends boating with his beloved wife and dog Rolo, fishing for whatever was biting.”
Meanwhile, Taylor continued to seek out new things and new places.
“Throughout his life, Jeremy fulfilled his love of traveling, visiting Australia, the British Virgin Islands, Boston, North and South Carolina, New York, and various places throughout Europe with his loved ones. Loving the water, Jeremy and Rosemary both learned to sail with Tom Kidd, a very good friend, who has also passed.”
Taylor and his wife “were active members of the Southwest Florida British Car Club and also the British American Club, where Jeremy served as president for several years with Rosemary as his treasurer. In his free time, Jeremy spent hours restoring an old British car, a 1968 Austin Healey Sprite, of which he nearly completed. When they were not on their boat or working on the car, the two enjoyed taking rides on their Triumph motorcycle.”
He is remembered as a kind and loving man.
“Jeremy was known to always help those who needed him, no matter what it was,” his obituary states. “His laugh was contagious and his smile could make any situation better, no matter how bad. Jeremy was a devoted grandfather, father, son and husband. He was loved by all that knew him. He will be remembered by the relationships we all shared with him, for his individuality, for his lifting spirit, and for the unconditional love and dedication that he gave to family and friends.”
Survivors include his beloved wife of 32 years, Rosemary Taylor of Cape Coral; loving mother, Irene Florence Taylor of England; two loving children, Louise Wheatley and her husband Martyn of Measham, England and Shaun Taylor also of Cape Coral; two siblings, Mandy Wright and her husband Ron of Spain and Desmond Taylor and his wife Kim of Allbany, England; a grandson, George Philip Wheatley also of Measham; niece and nephews, Danielle, Triston, Justin and George; as well as Rolo the dog.
Mullins Memorial Funeral Home & Cremation Services is at 3654 Palm Beach Blvd. Caleb Neff will officiate.
A celebration of life will follow at Cactus Jack Southwest Bar and Grill, 3448 Marinatown Lane, North Fort Myers.
Those who wish to sign the electronic guest book may do so at www.mullinsmemorial.com/obituaries/jeremy-c-taylor/686
Memorial contributions are suggested to 3720 S.W. 11th Place, Cape Coral, FL 33914.