Family: Murder suspect charged with killing 3 suffers from mental illness

A 26-year-old man whom Palm Bay police said shot and killed his mother, grandfather and sister and wounded his nephew and one other person over the weekend struggles with mental illness, family members say.

Tashawn Clive Taylor, 26, was arrested by Melbourne police about an hour after the Saturday night shootings, and went before Brevard County Judge Judy Atkin Monday for a first appearance on three counts of first-degree premeditated murder. He was assigned a public defender during the hearing.

Palm Bay police have not yet discussed a potential motive in the case. Taylor remains in Brevard County Jail without bond.

The suspect's father and other family members told FLORIDA TODAY that Taylor's mother had sought treatment for her son for several years after a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a mental illness often accompanied by paranoia and delusions. The family said they didn't know what might have led to the shootings. Most people with mental illnesses are not violent, health experts point out.

Police identified the shooting victims as 60-year-old Angella Suglam, Taylor's mother; his grandfather, 79-year-old Stephen Suglam; and 31-year-old Lisa Suglam, Taylor's sister. Police said a 15-year-old nephew was also shot, along with 59-year-old Gary Taylor. Gary Taylor's relationship to the family was not immediately known.

"He's my son, he's sick and has schizophrenia," said George Taylor of South Florida, who last saw his son two years ago while his son was in a facility being treated.

"This is such a tragedy. But I know he is not in his right mind," said George Taylor, who said he plans to come to Palm Bay later this week to console other family members and try to see his son in jail.

Tashawn Taylor, in handcuffs and a suit designed to prevent self-harm, appeared in court before Judge Judy Atkin at the Brevard County Jail on Monday afternoon. At times, Taylor appeared confused as Atkin asked him questions about having an attorney to represent him on the charges.

“What is an attorney?” Taylor muttered at one point, standing behind the glass partition as other defendants looked on from behind him.

“You need a lawyer, sir, this is a murder charge. It’s very important that you have an attorney to help you,” Atkin said. “I truly must have an answer to that question.”

“It’s OK, I guess,” Taylor told the judge, as Brevard County public defender Michael Mario Pirolo stood next to him. The judge ordered Taylor held in jail without bond on the murder charges and appointed Pirolo as Taylor's legal representative. Pirolo did not immediately respond to an inquiry from FLORIDA TODAY.

A search of arrest records shows Taylor was arrested for stealing a toaster from Walmart in 2021 and was charged with resisting arrest, according to West Melbourne police records. A judge later ruled, in August 2021, that Taylor was incompetent and could not go forward in trial, court records show. The judge, however, followed recommendations from the state attorney's office that Taylor continue being observed by Circles of Care, a mental health facility in Melbourne, records show.

If convicted on one murder charge, Taylor could be sentenced to life in state prison.

Neighbors reported gunfire

Palm Bay police were called about 9 p.m. Saturday to Woodlake Village Apartments' sprawling complex off of Palm Bay Road to respond to a 911 call from neighbors reporting the sound of gunfire.

Officers found five people shot, including the three fatally wounded, in two rooms of the apartment where the shootings took place. Several people lived in the apartment located in the 2700 block of the 462-unit complex, family members said.

Officers then searched for the suspected gunman, who also lived there, calling in assistance from Melbourne police. The suspect was taken into custody in Melbourne, and a black Lexus was placed atop a tow truck outside another complex less than two miles away in south Melbourne. It is not known if a gun was recovered.

Palm Bay detectives say Taylor had earlier walked from his bedroom with a laser-scoped handgun and into the bedroom where his mother, Angella Suglam, was lying in bed, one of the witnesses told officers. In the bed with Suglam were two children, reports show.

“Tashawn, don’t do it,” the mother yelled before being struck in the head by gunfire, police said.

Tashawn Taylor then fired several more rounds, striking his sister Lisa, who fell on top of one of the victims who survived the shooting. The victim told officers that he pretended to be dead while Taylor walked around the apartment, reports show. The witness then heard someone yell, ‘What’s going on?' before two shots were fired, followed by a door slamming. Other residents fled from the apartment to get help from neighbors, pounding on doors, reports show. One child hid under a bed, reports show.

Taylor then left the apartment, getting into his mother’s black Lexus and driving toward Melbourne. All three of the relatives who were killed were shot in the head, police reported.

"Everybody, everybody is just shocked," said Nikita Brown, a cousin of Tashawn Taylor, who lives in New York. She got word about the shooting from another family member.

Family members described two of the shooting victims, the suspect's mother and his sister, as home health care nurses who took on private clients.

Angella Suglam had moved to Florida from New York years before for a change of scenery, Brown said.

More: Three dead, two wounded in Palm Bay shooting; suspect charged, held

"(Angella) was a nice, loving person. She didn't have a problem with (Tashawn) and always tried to take him to his medical visits. It was not a troubled family," Brown said.

Brown also added that Lisa Suglam was a mother of three, describing her as a good mother who helped take care of her brother, Tashawn.

"He could get in his mood sometimes, especially if he didn't take his medicines," she said. "It's just so sad. He has to take his medicine."

The shootings are the deadliest homicide case in Brevard County since last March, when sheriff's investigators say a father shot and killed his 15-year-old daughter, her mother and two others in a Canaveral Groves home.

Detectives continue to talk with witnesses in the Palm Bay case, including survivors and others believed to be in the apartment when the gunfire broke out.

Family members, including the sister of one of the women killed, gathered outside the apartment complex Sunday, saying they did not know why the shootings took place.

"That's what's puzzling me. I have no idea why this happened," George Taylor said.

"I'm trying to process this now."

J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @JDGallop.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Palm Bay triple homicide suspect suffers mental illness, family says