JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville man who spent 33 years behind bars, wrongfully convicted of child rape, has been arrested for attempted murder.
Edward Clayton Taylor, 57, was arrested Saturday after a shooting in the 800 block of Phillip Randolph Boulevard.
The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office says officers were dispatched in response to a person shot.
A police report says a man was found in the 700 block of Odessa Street with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was rushed to UF Health for his injuries, which were serious.
Police say a surveillance camera was able to capture video of the shooting.
In the video, police say a man can be seen approaching another man while pointing a gun. The victim was shot in the chest, and then the suspect left in a bronze colored vehicle.
Jacksonville says they later found a matching the suspect description in the 800 block of Spearing Street removing items from the trunk of a bronze colored Hyundai Elantra riddled with bullet holes.
That man was later identified as Taylor, police say.
When questioned about his involvement, Taylor admitted that he was at the scene of the shooting. However, he told police he heard a single gunshot, which prompted him to leave.
He said when he was leaving, he began getting shot at, which prompted him to speed up and get a flat tire.
He is currently being held in the Duval County Jail for attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a convicted Florida felon.
Taylor’s 1986 rape conviction was vacated based on the fact that prosecutors at the time failed to turn over potentially exculpatory evidence.
He was previously released from prison by the Florida parole board 2019, but the judge’s decision last month removed his name from Florida’s sex offender registry.
Attorneys for the Innocence Project of Florida presented multiple reasons Taylor’s conviction should be overturned, including new evidence and prosecutors’ failure to turn over key evidence suggestive of other potential suspects.
They provided this recent statement to First Coast News
“After the completion of the postconviction proceedings, the Innocence Project of Florida no longer represents Mr. Taylor. We do not have comment on what is now a new, pending legal proceeding."