NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Doctors have informed a Nashville judge that the suspect in the Jillian Ludwig case has a mental disability and is not competent to stand trial. It will now be up to a Nashville judge whether or not to accept that determination. That decision could come as early as next month.
Earlier this month, the Ludwig family filed a $50 million lawsuit in connection to their daughter's death. The Belmont University freshman was shot and killed last year on the track at a public park near campus. She lay there on the ground for an hour before anyone found her.
The lawsuit claims several people and organizations contributed to her death including Belmont University, the Metro Development and Housing Agency (MDHA), a gun supplier, doctors who evaluated the man suspected of killing Jillian, and the suspect himself — Shaquille Taylor.
Doctors have evaluated Taylor three times since Ludwig was shot and killed, according to court documents obtained on Friday by NewsChannel 5. As a result of those evaluations, a judge involuntarily committed Taylor to a mental hospital.
In the reports, doctors said Taylor had a "limited understanding of the consequences of utilizing firearms" and had a "minimal understanding of the rationale behind his aggressive behavior."
Doctors noted he had a history of poor decision-making and that he acted "impulsively without considering the consequences. They wrote that he puts the community at risk and himself.
"Mr. Taylor presents with prominent intellectual deficits and dispositional characteristics that impair his competence to proceed with the charges against him, and which increase his risk in the community," Dr. Mary Elizabeth Wood wrote to the court in 2024. "His history is replete with examples in which he has acted on impulse, failing to consider the consequences of his actions, and these incidents have continued."
Who the suspect is
Court records from this year show that Taylor was diagnosed with an intellectual disability at age 12 in 2007.
His mental IQ scores starting at age 9 were consistently in the 50s.
Back in 2021, he was declared mentally incompetent for a case where he was accused of shooting into a car off of Dickerson Pike where a 3-year-old and 1-year-old were in the back seat. He admitted to detectives that he did it. However, mental evaluations showed he had intellectual disabilities and language impairment.
That determination meant he couldn't participate in a trial, and at the time, he was released back to his normal life. By Tennessee law, Judge Angelita Blackshear Dalton had to dismiss the case because he was deemed mentally incompetent.
Dr. Jenny Matthai evaluated Taylor in 2022 when he became confused by basic questions and couldn't process the information.
Dr. Wood — who evaluated him for the Ludwig case — also evaluated him in 2010 and 2021. She testified in 2021 that her assessments mirrored the same result: Taylor was incompetent and his mental disability couldn't get better.
In 2021, Dr. Wood said that they never expected Taylor to get better due to the "severity of his deficits." She told the court his encounters with the justice system resulted in Taylor "slipping through the cracks."
Taylor's next court date is Dec. 9.
Jillian's law
Directly after Jillian died, her parents were on Tennessee's Capitol Hill fighting to change state law specifically about people like Taylor.
Before July 2024, those found mentally incompetent were allowed to return to their homes and lives. Through our 30-minute special The Revolving Door, we focused on what happens to people who are charged with crimes but then released because of their mental status. It turns out some of those people in Nashville kept being charged with crimes only to be found mentally incompetent time and time again.
Now, the law is those found unfit must receive treatment, and the court is required to keep up with their progress. That person would also never be allowed to own a firearm again. If that person were to regain competency, their criminal proceedings would restart, meaning they could stand trial for their crimes.
House Majority Leader William Lamberth sponsored the bill. He and Rep. Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, worked on this legislation with Jillian's parents.
The pending lawsuit
The doctor who did the mental evaluation of Taylor this year for the Ludwig case is now being sued by the Ludwig family.
In the lawsuit, the Ludwig family pointed out a piece of a mental evaluation where Taylor said he understood the charges against him. In the report, he said he understood the words "guilty" and "not guilty." However, the evaluation cross-referenced to reports in 2021 and 2010, where Taylor didn't understand courtroom personnel or what exactly an attorney did.
Because of that, the suit spells out why they chose to sue both Dr. Matthai and Dr. Wood, who helped determine Taylor's level of competency.
(They) further knew while Taylor was in their custody and control that he had a specific history of violence and gun violence. Further, (they) knew or should have known in the exercise of sound professional judgment that Taylor would likely harm others if released," the Ludwig family wrote in the lawsuit.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at emily.west@newschannel5.com.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
