AURORA | Flanked by family, police and local politicians, Anthony Taylor made a plea to gun owners Monday night, June 6, three days after his grandson was fatally shot in an apparent accident.
“Put them up!” he shouted to the crowd of more than 200 gathered at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Library in north Aurora. “Lock them up, guns kill.”
Taylor’s grandson, 10-year-old Anthony “Jaliel” Hemmings-Taylor, died Friday night, June 3, in a shooting at the boy’s home near Galena Street and East Colfax Avenue.
Police have not confirmed that the boy shot himself, but the family and local leaders — including Arapahoe County Commissioner Bill Holen — said the boy died of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound.
After a memorial at the library, the crowd — many holding signs and dabbing at tears — walked the few blocks east to Anthony’s home.
Taylor said the death of his grandson, who the family called “Baby Anthony,” has changed him forever, prompting him to urge gun owners to handle their firearms safely.
“Guns don’t play,” he said.
State Rep. Rhonda Fields, D-Aurora, whose son was gunned down more than a decade ago, said the time has long passed for the community to get serious about gun violence.
“Not one more needs to be impacted by gun violence,” the Aurora Democrat said. “Enough is enough.”
Aurora Police Chief Nick Metz told the crowd that the boy’s death demands that the community take action against violence.
“Somewhere, somehow, something broke down,” he said.
EDITOR’S NOTE: As originally reported, the family of Hemmings-Taylor said at a vigil that the 10-year-old had accidentally shot himself. Subsequent investigation and autopsy results from the coroner’s office determined that the gunshot wound was not self-inflicted.