INDIANAPOLIS — Michelle Taylor told her son not to return to Indianapolis. It’s the city where she grew up and raised him. But she did not call it home.
In 2021, Taylor moved her family out of Indianapolis more than 500 miles to Kennesaw, Georgia, after her son, then-17-year-old Edgerrin James Michael Hoover, was shot at a gas station. She decided it was time to escape the violence.
But in February, Hoover chose to move back. He was a father to two young children with his long-term girlfriend, who wanted to move closer to her parents in Indianapolis.
On Thursday, just five months after coming back, 20-year-old Hoover was shot and killed on West Morris Street. Police arrived just after 5 p.m. to find Hoover with gunshot wounds. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died shortly after. Police reports list at least one witness to the shooting, but have not released what led to it. A suspect has also not been publicly identified.
‘Horrible moment’: Mom receives devastating call
Taylor received the call in Kennesaw on her drive back from work. Her son was shot and in critical condition.
She rushed to the airport, where she received the second call. Hoover was gone.
“It was one of the most horrible moments in my life,” Taylor said.
Now, she pleads for change and answers. Taylor calls Indy a “god-forsaken city,” but it’s where she plans to stay until she gets justice.
“Look at the clouds every day and just see how dark they look,” Taylor said. “There’s a dark cloud over the city. Something has to be done.”
‘They will remember his name’: Edgerrin James Michael Hoover
Hoover’s name might sound familiar to football fans. Taylor named him after the Indianapolis Colts’ former running back, Edgerrin James.
While Hoover didn’t play football, Taylor said he had a star quality about him. She said he was the person who’d make everyone laugh and also get on their nerves.
“My son had charisma, he had a personality, everybody gonna like him,” Taylor said. “If you don’t like him, it’s because you’re just mad because of his swag.”
Hoover’s middle name, Michael, came from his grandfather.
Hoover’s father had died in a car crash when he was six. Taylor has been raising her kids as a single mother since. Hoover’s children, too, will grow up without a father.
“He decided to come back here to be with his children … now he’s not with his children,” Taylor said. “Now they don’t have a daddy. My little grandbaby, he will never know his daddy.”
Taylor’s first time meeting Hoover’s three-month-old son in person was to bury her son. But over Facetime calls, she said she remembers how her grandson would look up and smile at Hoover.
“He was a good father,” Taylor said. “He was a 20-year-old trying to learn how to be a good father. Trying to develop himself. A little caterpillar who needed to just be able to bloom into a butterfly and fly.”
Taylor said her son was working to provide for himself and his kids and had worked at Riley Hospital for Children and Amazon. He was planning to get a Commercial Driver’s License.
“I know, if God would have allowed my baby to be here longer, he would have been who I raised him to be,” Taylor said. “Because he was trying to get there. But somebody said he couldn’t.”
A call for change in Indy
On Monday, Taylor said she could feel her resilience kick in. She was ready to fight, both for herself and for other mothers who have lost children in the city.
“I’m 42 and it’s so many of the people that I grew up with, it’s our children who are not making it,” Taylor said. “So every time, even though I’m not here in this state, I decide I want to get on my social media page, there’s somebody else that done lost their child here in the city. And it just keeps making my stomach hurt.”
She went live on Facebook, calling on mothers who have lost children to gun violence to rally.
“We’re gonna stand up, we’re gonna go knock at the mayor’s door, we’re getting the governor, we’re gonna go wherever the door needs to be knocked on,” Taylor said. “We’re gonna knock until justice is served for our children.”
Taylor said she is scared, but she is willing to push for change.
“My son ain’t gonna just die in vain,” Taylor said.
Yasmeen Saadi is a Pulliam Fellow, primarily covering breaking news and crime. You can email her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana mom told son not to come to Indy. 5 months later he was killed
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