A retired attorney suspected of shooting his wife to death and then killing himself in their Naples Island home likely did so to alleviate the suffering brought on by her failing health, according to their son.
Judy Strother Taylor, 75, was suffering from a “very advanced form of Parkinson’s disease,” according to her stepson Chris Taylor.
“The pain and suffering were too much for her, and my father didn’t want to continue in this world without the wife he loved so much by his side,” Chris Taylor said in an email to the Long Beach Post.
Authorities found the body of Judy Strother Taylor, along with her husband, 81-year-old Lawrence Eric Taylor, during a welfare check at their home Wednesday morning. They had both been shot in the head, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office.
Though it’s unclear exactly when the shooting happened, police, who are investigating the incident as a murder-suicide, suspect Lawrence shot Judy before shooting himself. The Medical Examiner’s office is conducting its own investigation and has listed his death as a suicide and hers as a homicide.
Detectives have not publicly stated a motive, but Chris Taylor said his stepmother’s health had been swiftly declining over the last several years as Lawrence cared for her.
“Through countless doctor appointments, hospital emergency room visits, and unending days and nights spent coping with her medical conditions, they never left each other’s side,” he said. “And that’s how their lives ended….by each other’s side.”
Together for more than 30 years, the couple was well-known in their neighborhood, according to Chris Taylor, and, “They both lived amazing and accomplished lives as individuals and as a couple,” he said.
Lawrence served in the Marines before becoming an attorney, serving as deputy public defender and deputy district attorney in Los Angeles before starting his own practice, according to his biography on his firm’s website.
Most notably, he worked as a trial judge’s legal advisor in the Charles Manson case and was Supreme Court counsel in the high-profile Onion Field murder case.
Judy spent more than 30 years working in adult and youth mentoring, human development and juvenile justice, according to her work biography.
During that time, she worked at the White House Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention and served as the Project Director for the U.S. Department of Education national mentoring initiative.
Jerry Sherk, president at Mentor Management Systems where Judy was once executive vice president, said in an email to the Post that Lawrence and Judy were always supportive of each other and the news of their deaths came as a shock.
He called Judy a “star” in the youth mentoring field.
“Judy had a huge heart, especially for the children she came into contact with as she worked with youth mentoring programs,” Sherk said.
She also started a nonprofit called “Pretty Good Cat,” where she worked with veterinarians to help injured cats, Sherk said.
“She loved cats and likely saved hundreds, maybe thousands, from death,” Sherk said.
After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease a few years ago, Judy’s “quality of life suffered greatly,” Chris Taylor said. The disease, “began robbing her of the normal energetic and caring personality that had always endeared her to so many family and friends.”
In his email to the Post, Chris Taylor thanked all the friends and neighbors who “cared for and loved Judy and Larry so much.”
“I cannot express the heartache I am feeling right now, but I know that those who knew and loved them will also take solace in that they left this world together,” he wrote. “I will forever love and miss them.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated with comments from Jerry Sherk.