The grief-stricken family of a murdered Nashville college student from New Jersey was left outraged after the killer took a plea deal to dodge a more severe prison sentence — insisting no punishment will ever be enough.
Shaquille Taylor, 32, was slapped with a 38-year prison sentence on Monday after pleading guilty to firing the stray bullet that killed Belmont University freshman Jillian Ludwig as she was jogging near the Nashville campus in 2023.
“It’s not enough… I still think it should have been life,” the slain teen’s mom, Jessica Ludwig, told WSMV in the wake of the sentencing hearing.
“He took everything from us.”
The 18-year-old promising music student, who was just three months into her freshman year, was shot in the head when Taylor — a suspected gangbanger — started firing at another gang inside a car.
He was initially indicted on first-degree murder but eventually pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
“He needs to be in jail forever,” Matthew Ludwig, the teen’s father, said. “For us, today, 38 years will have to do.”
Taylor’s eventual arrest sparked outrage at the time after it emerged he’d been nabbed but later cut loose for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon right before the teen’s slaying.
He was released from custody and never prosecuted because he wasn’t found competent to stand trial — despite the district attorney’s office warning he was a danger.
The perp, who doctors said has an intellectual disability and language impairment, also didn’t meet the burden to be involuntarily committed to a mental health facility.
“They predicted it… somebody else is going to get killed — and Jill was killed 12 days later,” Jessica Ludwig said.
In the wake of Jillian’s murder, Tennessee lawmakers moved to reexamine state laws and eventually closed a loophole where defendants found incompetent to stand trial are involuntarily committed rather than set free.
“It was a really dangerous loophole… it took somebody losing her life for them to make change,” Jessica said.
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