Video After The Jump
The family of Michael Taylor are still trying to come to grips with his senseless murder last week in New Orleans. As we previously reported, the 16-year old made headlines in January 2011 when his uncle, Lamoine Ward, videotaped himself whipping Taylor for putting gang related information on his Facebook wall. Ward then posted the video online where it went viral almost overnight.
In a new interview with New Orleans television station WDSU, the uncle says he did it out of love and fear for what could happen to his family.
"It was love and I wanted to really show that he's not a gang member. I was not only going on his [Facebook] walls, I was searching his friend's walls also," Lamoine said. "So, I was frightened about what could happen to my family. I was led by the right spirit when I did it, but now the enemy is twisting it in my head like I did something wrong. Maybe I draw some extra attention to him to make him feel like he need to prove to these people that he's not soft."
Asked if he had any regrets about posting the video, Lamoine told WDSU he only had one.
"I regret maybe not being a part of his life a little bit more after the video," he said.
After the video hit the net, Taylor was reportedly bullied and made fun of at school. His mother, Kimberly Ward, said her son was a good kid who may have simply been trying to fit in with the wrong crowd.
"I'm hurt," she said through tears. "I'm not angry but I'm hurt. My boy was my world. But at the same time I'm blessed that if my child's death can save another child's life and another mother [not] have to go through what I feel, then I feel alright."
She added that parent's shouldn't be afraid to check their children's Facebook pages and most of all, "Don't be a friend, be a parent."
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