A Metro Atlanta community is mourning the loss of a promising teenager after she was fatally shot on Thanksgiving Day, just weeks after her boyfriend was killed in a separate incident.
Taylor Hamilton, who had just turned 16 on Nov. 4, was shot while waiting for an Uber at a home on Wentworth Drive in Ellenwood.
Clayton County Police confirmed that 16-year-old Adonis Alkarim has been charged with murder in connection with her death and is being prosecuted as an adult.
Taylor’s mother, Nandi Hamilton, described her daughter as an “old soul” who “everyone looked up to as their big sister” — a teen who friends and classmates turned to for guidance.
Taylor was a sophomore at Booker T. Washington High School, a member of JROTC, and dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.
“She was that kind of friend everyone could rely on,” Hamilton said.
According to Hamilton, Taylor had been struggling in recent months following the death of her 16-year-old boyfriend, Dequavious Royalston, who was fatally shot on Sept. 1 when his stepfather allegedly mistook him for an intruder in their home.
In the weeks leading up to her death, other teens reportedly heckled Taylor about Royalston’s death, a factor Hamilton believes contributed to the tension the day she was killed.
On Thanksgiving, Taylor was reportedly ready to leave a gathering and was waiting on the front porch for her Uber when a group from inside the house came outside. During the encounter, Taylor was shot. A doorbell camera at the home captured the incident, footage her mother described as “senseless” and “heartbreaking,” noting that it has circulated widely on social media.
Hamilton expressed frustration that more people have not been held accountable. “It was absolutely senseless,” she said.
In the wake of Taylor’s death, an online campaign has been launched to help her family cover funeral expenses.
