Former middleweight boxing champion Jermain Taylor has been arrested on suspicion of domestic battery and assault in a shooting that wounded Taylor’s cousin at the boxer’s suburban Little Rock home, authorities said.
“Mr. Taylor was arrested for domestic battery, first-degree, and aggravated assault,” Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Carl Minden said Tuesday. “It was his cousin and another individual that came over to his house, an altercation ensued, he (Taylor) grabbed a weapon and opened fire.”
Minden said the police responded to a 911 call from Taylor’s wife, Erica, at around 6 p.m. CT.
“Mr. Taylor’s cousin and another individual came to his residence, and there was some sort of altercation,” Minden said, adding that the two who showed up at Taylor’s home were unarmed. “At some point, Mr. Taylor retrieved a handgun and fired several rounds. His cousin was struck multiple times. The cousin is alive and in serious condition at an area hospital. He has pretty serious injuries. The other person was not struck, but Mr. Taylor had fired several rounds and missed.”
The cousin was hospitalized in serious condition with an apparent gunshot wound and the other man, described as a friend of the cousin, was not injured, Minden said. The two drove away from the home and were found at a Dollar General discount store several blocks away, Minden said. A woman believed to be Taylor’s wife called 911 shortly before 6 p.m. to report an intruder and a shooting at the home.
The names of the cousin and other man were not released.
Taylor, 36, was being held in the Pulaski County jail without bond, according to online jail records. His attorney did not immediately return an after-hours phone call seeking comment.
Taylor is expected to appear in Pulaski County District Court via video from the jail on Wednesday morning, Minden said.
Minden said the nature of the altercation was still under investigation and that Taylor was arrested without incident.
“He was very calm and very cooperative with our investigators,” Minden said.
Taylor was the professional middleweight boxing champion from 2005 until 2007 when he lost the title to Kelly Pavlik. Taylor was also a bronze medalist in boxing at the 2000 Olympics.