Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor has died, a day after he was shot at home, said family friend Richard Sharpstein.
He said Taylor's father called him around 5:30am to tell him the news.
"His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me," said Sharpstein, Taylor's former lawyer. "It's a tremendously sad and unnecessary event. He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans."
He said he did not know exactly when Taylor died.
Doctors had been encouraged late on Monday night when Taylor squeezed a nurse's hand. But Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being transported to the hospital and that he wasn't sure how he had squeezed the nurse's hand.
"Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something," Sharpstein said.
The 24-year-old Redskins safety was shot early on Monday in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing significant blood loss.
Miami-Dade Police were investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor's home. Officers were dispatched about 1:45am on Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called police. Taylor was airlifted to the hospital.
Sharpstein said that Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor's one-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house at the time, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured.
"It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery," Miami-Dade Police Leiutenant Nancy Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."
Taylor was shot at the pale yellow house he bought two years ago in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay. It came about a week after someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed at Taylor's home, according to police.
"They're really sifting through that incident and today's incident," Miami-Dade police detective Mario Rachid said, "to see if there's any correlation."
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