Death Row Inmate Passes Away

Michael Norman Taylor (1948-2004)

Michael Norman Taylor passed away on January 27, 2004; he was 55 years old. Mr. Taylor had been residing at the Corrections Medical Center for the last several months after being diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Mr. Taylor was convicted and sentenced to death in 1993 for a bar shooting in Cleveland. 

His death sentence was reversed by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio in 2003. The District Court found there was insufficient evidence of “prior calculation and design,” remanded the case for re-sentencing, and Mr. Taylor would no longer be eligible for the death penalty. At the time of his death, this reversal was on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. 

At age seventeen, Mr. Taylor enlisted in the United States Army, and was sent to Vietnam. There, Mr. Taylor witnessed brutal killings of both American soldiers and Vietnamese soldiers and civilians. He served as a mine sweeper for his platoon. Though he was able to distance himself from events in Vietnam, like many veterans he never forgot what he witnesses and what he learned from Vietnam. Mr. Taylor clearly suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and was never offered assistance in dealing with the after-effects of war. In addition, in 1989, Mr. Taylor suffered from a head injury, leaving him with seizures and logical impairment for the rest of his life. 

A clemency petition had been filed on Mr. Taylor’s behalf, asking that he be released to a hospice in Cleveland to be closer to his family. Mr. Taylor is survived by his wife, Annie Taylor, five siblings, six children, and several grandchildren. Funeral services will be held in Cleveland.