A Nashville college freshman died last week a day after she was struck in the head by a stray bullet, fired by a man who had been released from custody in another shooting after doctors found he was incompetent to stand trial.
Both Jillian Ludwig’s parents and Nashville officials slammed state law that allowed for the release of the suspect in the earlier shooting without consideration for the dangers his mental health presented.
New Jersey native Ludwig, 18, was shot while walking along a track at Edgehill Community Memorial Gardens Park on Tuesday, not far from Belmont University, a private Christian school where she was a music business major, NBC News reported. She was taken to a hospital in extremely critical condition and died overnight.
In a statement released after their daughter died, Matt and Jessica Ludwig described her as “a creative, compassionate, fearless young woman. She was thriving in her freshman year of college and on the cusp of so many successes. She was senselessly robbed of those opportunities and we will miss her dearly every day forever.”
Nashville police quickly identified Shaquille Taylor, 29, as the suspect in the shooting. Taylor was allegedly shooting at a car at a public housing unit across the street from the park, investigators said.
They also said that Taylor and another man had been charged with shooting at a woman as she was driving with her two children earlier this year, but the charges were dismissed and he was released after court-appointed doctors testified he was incompetent to stand trial. He was not hospitalized, according to Criminal Court Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton, because Taylor didn’t meet the criteria to be involuntarily committed under Tennessee state law.
Court papers said that Taylor functioned at a kindergarten level because of a brain infection that came from his having pneumonia shortly after birth.
After Ludwig’s shooting and news of Taylor’s earlier release, Nashville District Attorney General Glenn Funk harshly criticized state law, saying the rules for involuntary commitment are a “nearly impossible standard.”
“The law must be altered to accurately balance individual needs with public safety,” Funk said in a statement calling on the Tennessee legislature to change the rules. “At the same time Tennessee must provide more beds and staffing resources to handle dangerous individuals.”
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell echoed Funk’s comments about beds and staffing resources, adding that the legislature should also begin “a renewed conversation about how we limit access to firearms for individuals we know are a threat to the community.”
Tennessee’s legislature has steadfastly refused to take up any measures that would limit access to guns in any way in recent years.
Ludwig’s parents told WSMV they more angry with “the system” than with the man who shot their daughter and said they plan to work to change it.
“I don’t know much about the man other than what everyone has heard about him and what has been made public,” Matt Ludwig said. “Our anger is with the system that allowed this to happen.”
“If we can make positive change so her death is not in vain, that’s what we aim to do,” Jessica Ludwig said.
“We are frustrated by this essentially loophole in the system that allows this to happen,” Matt Ludwig added. “If there is a determination that someone is mentally unwell, then there should be some way to handle that in a manner that won’t allow them to get back onto the street.”
Taylor was initially charged with aggravated assault and evidence tampering in the shooting. Police said they were talking with the district attorney’s office about how to upgrade the charges.
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[Featured image: Jillian Ludwig/GoFundMe]
