GASTONIA, N.C. — Logan Taylor was drunk and going 100 mph when he killed a woman in Gastonia last year, but the response from one of the victim’s family members in court on Friday was one of forgiveness.
Taylor was 21 at the time when he ran a red light on June 16 last year. His car T-boned Rashonda Greene’s car on Hudson Boulevard, and she died in that crash.
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On Friday, Taylor was in court for an emotional plea hearing that sent him to jail for the crash. Taylor told Greene’s family that he regretted what happened.
“It took away something that words can’t explain for me or them,” Taylor said in court.
He said he knew he was wrong when he ran that red light. It happened on what Greene’s family called one of the happiest days of her life.
Greene left home for her first day as a supervisor on her job; her family said she was excited and wanted to get there early. She never made it to work.
“It’s something that should have never happened, and I think about it every day,” Taylor said.
Police said Taylor’s blood alcohol level was just above the legal limit at the time of the crash.
“I’d do anything to be able to go back and swap places with her,” Taylor said in court.
He said he feels he’ll never be able to get true forgiveness, but Greene’s aunt said he already has it. She looked over at him in court on Friday.
“God still loves you, regardless of the fact,” Pamela Carr Shropshire told him.
The family is still hurting from their immeasurable loss.
“I had to take trauma therapy,” said Rhonda Lynch, Greene’s mother.
Her daughter, like other family members, are still reeling from an open wound.
“I don’t have a mother anymore,” Iyona Greene said in court.
She told Taylor that Rashonda would forgive him for a horrible crime, and they do, too.
“I’m not angry at that young man. I do have to learn to forgive, and I do forgive you,” Lynch said.
Taylor’s attorney said that was one of the few questions he asked during their early meetings.
“‘How do I reconcile this grief for the rest of my life’,” defense attorney Brad Smith recalled Taylor asking.
Greene’s family made it clear that forgiveness doesn’t excuse the crime.
Taylor pleaded guilty to felony death by motor vehicle and serious injury with a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to 4-6 years in prison.
Greene’s sister told Taylor that while he may get the sentence imposed in court, losing Greene is a life sentence for them.