Florida Man Arrested Decades After 1986 Killing of Beloved Real Estate Developer Who Was Shot in Office
Florida authorities have made an arrest in the 1986 cold case murder of a successful commercial real estate developer.
Jeffrey Taylor, 64, was taken into custody Thursday, April 24, in connection with the killing of 49-year-old Shirley Brant. He is charged with second-degree murder with a firearm.
'The resolution of this case reflects our department's commitment to justice, no matter how much time has passed,' said Chief of Police Juan Pinillos. 'We hope this arrest brings a measure of closure to the Brant family and all who knew her.'
Authorities allege Taylor left fingerprints at the crime scene but they were never entered into the Automated Fingerprint Identification System "due to not meeting certain criteria at the time," North Miami police said in a press release.
Investigators resubmitted the fingerprints for analysis and allegedly matched the prints to Taylor in March.
Brant was on the phone with a client in her real estate office in North Miami Beach when two intruders entered on June 13, 1986.
A temporary employee told police she heard Brant scream and then witnessed one of the males attempting to take the phone away from her.
Related: A Beloved Fla. Mom Was Fatally Shot in Her Real Estate Office in 1986, and Police Have Reopened Investigation
The witness then heard Brant say, "Don't shoot!" before she was shot, North Miami Beach police detective Pam Denham previously told PEOPLE.
Police allege Taylor pulled the trigger.
At the time, the witness told the police that the two men were 'nicely dressed,' Denham said. 'They were in dress pants and a long-sleeve collared shirt. Maybe that was because they didn't want to stand out and they wanted to look professional.'
The two men absconded with cash and credit cards before fleeing the scene.
Brant's death devastated her four children as well as her husband, local dentist Dr. Lawrence Brant, who "never got over it," Brant's son, Dr. Steven Brant, previously told PEOPLE. "He missed my mom terribly, terribly. He hired a private eye to look over things and to see that everything was done."(Shirley Brant's grandson, who is the nephew of Steven Brant, is an editor at PEOPLE.)
Steven Brant described his mother as 'a very, very talented woman,' who sang on cruise ships with her sister in the 1960s before becoming a real estate agent in the early 70s.
He last saw his mother two weeks before her murder. 'We had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant in Gainesville," he said. "And we were all sitting around the table. She passed away one week before her 50th birthday. She said she had seen a birthday card about 50th birthdays, and she said on the card it said, 'It's nifty to be 50.' But she never made it to 50.'
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