Family outraged after man accepts plea deal for killing promising young student with a stray bullet

The family of a college freshman killed by a stray bullet in 2023 was outraged Monday as the man responsible for her death took a plea deal to avoid the ultimate punishment.

Shaquille Taylor, 32, of Nashville, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for the Nov. 7, 2023 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig, as well as an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge stemming from a previous incident, WZTV reports.

He was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated assault – acting in concert prior to the plea deal, which also saw other charges, including attempted first-degree murder, dismissed.

On the murder charge, Davidson County Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier sentenced Taylor to 35 years in prison without parole, and an additional three years with the possibility of his prison sentence being reduced on the assault charge.

But Ludwig’s parents, Jessica and Matthew, said the 38 years Taylor will now spend behind bars is “not enough.”

“I still think it was supposed to be life,” Jessica Ludwig told WSMV.

“He should be in prison forever,” Matthew added, before saying the 38-year sentence is simply “enough.”

The heartbroken parents had previously issued powerful victim impact statements, urging Judge Dozier to impose the harshest sentence available under the law.

Jillian’s parents, Matthew and Jessica Ludwig (pictured with their late daughter) said the 38 years Taylor served on Monday is not enough

Shaquille Taylor, 32, of Nashville, pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the November 7, 2023 fatal shooting of 18-year-old Belmont University student Jillian Ludwig

“There is no greater pain than a father losing his only daughter to murder,” Matthew said in his remarks.

Both he and Jessica spoke through tears as they shared Jillian’s final moments and the pain they endured in the years since.

Their daughter was out running in Nashville’s Edgehill neighborhood on November 7, 2023, when she was fatally struck in the head by a stray bullet.

Taylor admitted in the aftermath that he fired shots before handing the gun to someone else and was later arrested after police said he shot at a car that prosecutors say was carrying members of a rival gang.

Ludwig, a New Jersey native who studied the music business, was found about an hour after the shooting and immediately taken to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries the next day.

In a statement read on behalf of Taylor on Monday, he insisted he never intended to harm Jillian.

“Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig, I am so sorry for your loss. I wish I could take that bullet back,” he said, according to WZTV.

“I wasn’t referring to your daughter at all,” Taylor continued. “If I had known she was walking in the park, I would never have shot her that night.”

Jillian, an 18-year-old student at Bellmont University, was killed by a stray bullet while walking in Nashville’s Edgehill neighborhood on November 7, 2023.

Taylor’s sentencing comes nearly a year after he was found competent to stand trial, which was set to begin Monday.

Judge Dozier determined in July that Taylor had sufficient capacity to understand the legal proceedings and participate in his defense, despite his history of mental health evaluations that led to previous rulings of incompetence.

“Defendant may not be of much assistance as an attorney in a tax fraud case against him, but the Court is reasonably confident that Defendant is sufficiently competent to stand trial in the present cases,” Dozier wrote in his ruling, The Tennessean reported.

The decision followed a multi-day competency hearing in June, when psychologists debated Taylor’s ability to stand trial.

Although he has a documented intellectual disability and low IQ scores — once as low as 56 — the Tennessee judge emphasized that IQ alone was not the determining factor in his ruling.

Instead, he took into account Taylor’s practical understanding of the legal process.

Her parents said Monday they are grateful they have recordings of her songs to hear her voice

Jessica and Matthew Ludwig said they will continue to fight to close loopholes in the justice system

However, the case has exposed a serious gap in The Volunteer State’s justice system.

Taylor had been charged with other violent crimes but was released just 12 days before Ludwig was killed after multiple psychological evaluations determined he was incompetent to stand trial, WSMV reported.

But at the time he did not meet the threshold for involuntary committal.

But in July 2024, “Jillian’s Law,” sponsored by House Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, passed with unanimous support and now requires criminal defendants found incompetent to go to trial for treatment.

It also prohibits suspects of crimes committed under the law from owning or possessing weapons.

“It was a very dangerous loophole… it took someone losing her life to make change,” Jessica said Monday.

She and Matthew are now working to help other communities across the country close the gaps in their justice systems through Jillian’s foundation, ‘Rae of Light.’

“This is a problem, not just here,” Matthew said. “It’s everywhere… Laws are different in different states, but none are perfect. So that’s what we’re working on now.’

Jessica added that their daughter “was a fighter” and she knows that “she would want us to keep fighting for her.”

In the meantime, the heartbroken parents said they are grateful they still have the recordings of Jillian’s music.

“I’m grateful that we still have some of her songs, that we can still hear her voice,” Jessica said.