MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Editor's Note: Video above is from January 2022.
ABC 24 has learned the man found shot to death after a crash Friday morning is the same man who took care of the memorial for rapper Young Dolph daily in south Memphis.
Memphis Police confirmed Thursday that the man found shot in a car in the 3000 block of Getwell on Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, was 32-year-old Jeremiah Taylor. He died at the scene. Officers had originally responded to a call about a crash where a driver hit the pole, but determined Taylor had been shot before the crash.
Family and friends, including Memphis activist Frank Gottie, posted on social media also identifying the man killed as Jeremiah Taylor.
How Taylor honored Young Dolph
ABC 24 spoke with Taylor back in January 2022, when he had made it a daily ritual to take care of the memorial for Young Dolph at Makeda’s Cookies on Airways Blvd, where the rapper was shot and killed in November 2021.
"(Young Dolph) was a legend. He was a king, so this stuff deserves to be treated as such," Taylor told us at the time. "We want people to know, people around the world to know, we care about Dolph. We are not going to have this stuff looking any type way.”
Taylor told us that, like Dolph, he grew up in the Castalia Heights neighborhood, went to Hamilton High, and met the rapper several times.
Starting about three days after Dolph's death Taylor, along with Gottie, would make daily trips to organize, beautify and freshen up the growing tribute.
"The love he had, a lot of people are realizing it now seeing, you know, seeing how he took care of the community, as a philanthropist, and really promoting financial independency and the morals that he taught," Taylor said at the time.
The owners of Makeda's Cookies said Wednesday they decided to not reopen their original store on Airways Boulevard. Owner Pamela Hill said this decision is what's best for them and their customers and that they don't want to put anyone's life in danger by taking down the memorial to Young Dolph.
Search for suspects in Taylor's murder
Police have not released information on suspects in Taylor’s death.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.