Fugitive, girlfriend to stand trial together

By Matt Pordum (contact)

Thursday, May 12, 2005 | 9:31 a.m.

Less than a week after District Judge Lee Gates said a woman who allegedly shot at police while her fugitive boyfriend led Metro officers on a high-speed chase would not stand trial together, Gates changed his mind.

Due to both a full calendar of cases and questions as to whether Kentro Taylor's attorney would be prepared for Taylor's May 17 trial, Gates decided Taylor and his girlfriend, April Jones, will both stand trial on July 5.

For a few moments on Wednesday it appeared Deputy Public Defender Kevin Speed would be forced to defend Taylor next week without having "crucial" elements of his investigation of the case completed.

Speed asked Gates for the trial to be rescheduled, but Taylor shook his head and said he wanted to exercise his right to a speedy trial.

When Gates told Taylor he would be at a disadvantage if Speed wasn't given an opportunity to complete his investigation, Taylor shrugged it off.

"I already feel like it's a disadvantage so I'm going ahead with it anyway," Taylor said.

Due to a trial already set before Gates that would run into the May 17 date for Taylor's trial and other cases on Gates' calendar, the judge informed a disgruntled Taylor he would be standing trial with Jones on July 5.

Last week Jones, who previously pleaded not guilty to the same charges Taylor is facing, told her attorney she wouldn't come to court if she didn't have the same trial date as Taylor.

Police said that during surveillance on Taylor, they saw him and two women drive away from a residence and called nearby officers to stop them. When police tried to pull over Taylor, he sped away, police said.

As they followed, Jones allegedly began shooting at police and their cars from the passenger window with an AR-15 assault rifle, police said. No officers were injured.

The chase ended in traffic at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Bonanza Road, where police arrested Taylor and Jones. The third passenger was not charged with any crimes, police said.

Taylor is the last of five men arrested in connection with the Sept. 9 killing of 26-year-old Muhammad Price in Baton Rouge, La. Price was kidnapped, tied up and beaten until information about drugs or money was gained, according to Baton Rouge police.

Taylor and the three other men then allegedly took Price with them to two other locations where the suspects committed robberies, police said.