NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Jessica Ludwig fought through her voice cracking.
She continued speaking through the tears that followed down her face.
Ludwig's daughter, Jillian, died in November allegedly at the hands of a man the court had previously declared mentally incompetent. A bullet struck her daughter while she took a walk two blocks from the campus of Belmont University. Jillian was on the ground for an hour before anyone found her. Her family sat through what they described as an agonizing flight before landing in Nashville, only knowing their daughter had been shot.
She died shortly thereafter.
Her mother said she wasn't going to let her daughter's last moments on earth be her only legacy — the only memory others thought about.
"She was ripped away during the prime of her life," Ludwig said during a House Criminal Justice Committee, where lawmakers sent forward a bill that would close a loophole in Tennessee law around those deemed mentally incompetent by the court. She addressed legislators wearing a white shirt bearing Jillian's name in bright colors asking for justice, a locket of her photo sitting atop her collar.
HB 1640 would mean a person facing criminal charges deemed not competent to stand trial by a judge would be sent to a mental health facility and the individual would not be able to possess or purchase firearms.
That person would have to continue outpatient treatment that the court keeps tabs on, according to an amendment passed by the committee on Tuesday.
"The man had a long history of violence and had been arrested many times," Jessica Ludwig said. "Anyone with a sound mind and reason would think he should be in a mental facility or jail. He shouldn't be on the streets ready to claim his next victim. He was also determined not to be a threat — an egregious error. It's incomprehensible and defies all laws."
What the Ludwigs want you to know about Jillian
Through the scratchy strum on her strings and an introductory high note, Jillian's voice lightly comes from the audio of a YouTube video.
Her family uploaded the song — a piece saved on her phone. Jillian wrote and composed the song named "How Long." In total, she knew how to play six musical instruments and was in three different rock bands before moving from New Jersey to Nashville.
"She was love and light and peace and helping people," Jessica Ludwig said after the committee. "She loved music. So music is poignant to us. She left us with one song of her own. It stings, but we do treasure it to hear her voice."
Her dad, Matt, explained that all the pieces fell in place in Jillian's life for her to live in Nashville, with the hope of producing music but also recording her own.
"She was fearless from a young age and never had hesitation to get up in front of an audience," Matt Ludwig said.
Her parents added she was a big sister, a volunteer and an advocate for others to learn music.
"We wanted to make sure there was something good rather than just how she died," Matt Ludwig said.
How the Ludwigs pushed for change
It took the Ludwigs time before they started looking for options to make sure this happened to no one else.
This was after learning Jillian would not survive her injuries — after the four-hour line of people wrapping around the block for her funeral arrangements.
"The first days we were so focused on her," said Matt Ludwig. "We hadn't given so much thought to that. The reality set in and it was maddening, and it made a terrible situation that much worse."
Before the session started, Ludwig's family friends began researching Tennessee laws around mental incompetency and what they found lacking in the code annotated. Those who cared about Jillian contacted the Davidson County District Attorney's office and Tennessee lawmakers.
Shortly after Rep. William Lamberth crafted the bill's language, Rep. Ryan Williams asked the Ludwigs if he could attach an amendment that would name the effort in her honor. Williams, R-Cookeville, has a child currently attending Belmont.
The bill is now headed the House Budget Ways, Means and Finance Committee. Only one lawmaker — Rep. Monty Fritts, R-Kingston — voted no on the measure. This was after he tried to tack on an amendment that would add other uses of deadly force and not just firearms.
"I hope it continues to go through," Jessica Ludwig said. "Who would object? I don't see any downsides to it. If it goes through, everyone wins and everyone is safer. It seems like the right thing to do. We want her name to be remembered for helping people."
Who shot Jillian?
Shaquille Taylor, 29, has an intellectual disability and language impairment, according to court records obtained by NewsChannel 5. He has been charged with her crime, and that is now pending. It's been bound over to the Davidson County grand jury.
That determination meant he wasn't able to participate in a trial where he was accused of shooting into a car in 2021 off of Dickerson Pike where a 3-year-old and 1-year-old were in the back seat. He admitted to detectives in 2021 that he did it.
Taylor was the co-defendant in the case, and he was originally charged with three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. By law, Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton had to dismiss the case because he was deemed incompetent.
In 2010, when Taylor was a teenager, he was referred to the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities where doctors found he was "incompetent and not restorable," meaning his disability couldn't get better. The report in 2010 determined that Taylor had an intellectual disability from being born with pneumonia that led to an infection in his brain, according to court documents.
His mother, Tondalayia Cox, testified that Taylor functioned "on a kindergarten level." When he was 15, his mother testified that Taylor was running around with a Super Nintendo gun, and was "being chased by a gang of boys." His mother told the court he was shot and a bullet had to be removed from his body, according to court documents.
In the latest filing about his competency, the court had not found any changes to demonstrate he had changed.
"In my opinion, Mr. Taylor does not possess adjudicative competence due to his intellectual disability and language impairment," Dr. Mary Elizabeth Wood wrote in a forensic assessment report for the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Development Disabilities in 2021. "He understands the allegations and recognizes that his liberty interests as the accused are at risk. He was easily confused with basic questions. There was limited ability to provide his attorney with relevant information about his case."
How frequently do mental incompetency cases happen?
NewsChannel 5 has followed several cases in the last six months that dealt with incompetent people accused of crimes.
Davidson County's presiding judge Melissa Blackburn told NewsChannel 5 Investigates in 2023 that a $600,000 grant from the county meant people deemed incompetent are no longer immediately released back on the street.
During an 18-month period beginning in 2020, her office found 182 Nashvillians declared incompetent to stand trial had been released.
NewsChannel 5 is continuing to follow up on stories about incompetency, the court and the legislature looking at this problem.
Taylor's criminal history
- 2011: Police seized a .40 caliber handgun from Taylor during an incident when he was a juvenile.
- 2015: Taylor was charged with robbery and given probation
- 2016: Taylor violated that probation when he was charged with aggravated burglary and was sentenced to a year in jail.
- 2021: Taylor was arrested after he and another man fired a gun into a car on Dickerson Pike in East Nashville. He was charged with aggravated assault.
- May 2023: He was released from custody after three court-appointed psychologists deemed him incompetent to stand trial, but also found he didn't pose an imminent threat to himself or others.
- Sept. 2023: Taylor was charged with auto theft and released on bail, but an arrest warrant was issued for him last Friday when he failed to show up in court.
