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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Tom Duffy

Gunman shot 'devoted' dad as he waited for daughter

Police still hope to trace the gunman responsible for a brutal shooting on the edge of Liverpool city centre.

Dad-of-six James Taylor, 34, was sat in his Mercedes Vito waiting for his daughter to come out of Marybone Youth and Community Association when a gunman approached him.

Mr Taylor was shot 'several times' by one gunman with a handgun at very close range and died at the scene.

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The shooting, at around 8pm on February 7 2019, remains unsolved.

Locals described scenes, too distressing to be published, to the ECHO as people gathered around the Liverpool FC fan's car moments after the shooting.

Mr Taylor's family described him as a devoted family man "who died doing what he did best, being a devoted father."

Liverpool dad James Taylor, 34 (Merseyside Police)

Last year Detective Chief Inspector Rachel Wilson said that the force believed the killer left the scene in a a black Ford Fiesta which was found burnt out 15 minutes later in nearby Summer Seat, Vauxhall.

DCI Wilson also said that officers were keen to trace a White Ford Transit van seen driving off from Freemasons Row shortly after the murder.

DCI Wilson said the force was also keen to trace the drivers of a blue taxi, a grey coloured Audi A3 'Black Edition' and a dark coloured Land Rover. The vehicles were all spotted in the area on the day of the murder, and the drivers could have 'vital information' about the crime.

Last year an inquest into Mr Taylor's death heard that Merseyside Police had made 17 arrests in relation to the shooting, but there was insufficient evidence to charge.

Senior coroner for Liverpool and Wirral, Andre Rebello found that Mr Taylor was "unlawfully killed" and urged people who may hold vital information to come forward.

He said: "Society needs someone taken out of circulation for making children orphaned, a wife widowed and making a mother see their son die before them."

Contact via @MerPolCC, by calling 101 or the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or report online at https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously with crime reference 19100038615.

You can also leave information via the UK Police Major Incident Public reporting site – www.mipp.police.uk - by clicking on the Merseyside Police badge.

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