Of the St. Louis American
While a beloved 73-year-old Ville novelty shop owner’s store stayed conspicuously closed on Saturday, police arrested two young men for robbing and killing him last week while community leaders rallied that “enough is enough” at a nearby church.
On Sunday, Kossuth Church of God in Christ carried on without Jesse Taylor, but praised God in his name. He was one of the church’s most faithful, longtime members.
“The T-shirt man,” as he was called, had been robbed for a small sum of money, then shot and killed inside his Ville neighborhood store on December 12.
The small, white store, where for more than three decades he sold T-shirts, socks, caps and candy, is now covered with stuffed animals and sentiments of love.
Taylor would sit out on warm days, adding barbecue pits and car washes to his honest hustle at the corner of St. Louis and Cora avenues.
At his funeral on Tuesday, the Rev. Robert D. Strong, pastor of Kossuth Church of God in Christ, said that’s we do in North St. Louis.
“We can’t build no Crown Plaza, we do what we can and make a decent living,” Strong said.
“We’re going to keep on selling barbecue and we’re going to keep on selling snoots, we’re gonna keep on selling tripe, because that’s what black people do in the black neighborhood.”
“The T-shirt man’s” funeral was packed with young and old people paying their respects.
One neighbor, John Parker, 44, called Taylor “the soul of our neighborhood.”
Taylor taught Parker how to hustle and took him under his wing when Parker’s father died two years ago.
“He gave from his heart,” said Parker, who had known Taylor since 1982. “He was good man, and I got nothing but love for him.”
Trell, a local hip-hop/R&B singer, sang “Blessed Assurance” at the funeral, a song he would often sing for Taylor at the store. Trell was wearing a skull cap he bought from Taylor.
Trell said, “I would be short, and he would say just come back – but make sure you help someone else.”
Ken Walker, age 27, called Taylor a nice family man who was trying to feed his family like everybody else.
“The people who did this to him are going to face the consequences, because he was a church man and there wasn’t any reason to kill him,” Walker said.
The alleged perpetrators are 23-year-old Travis Ratliff of the 4600 block of South 38th St. and 19-year-old Zedric Ward of the 5000 block of Tennessee Ave.
They have been charged with second degree murder, first-degree attempted robbery and armed criminal action.
“No one from this neighborhood would have done that to him,” said Myzania Jenkins, after writing her sentiments of love on the side of Taylor’s store following his funeral.
Zaki Baruti, head of the Universal African Peoples Organization, said the crime is a reflection of the black-on-black crime that stems from socio-economic problems.
“To address this, there needs to be massive jobs programs,” said Baruti, who partnered with community leaders at a rally on Saturday.
“They need to target the source of drugs coming into our communities, and black people who have made it need to have a commitment to coming back to the community to help mentor.”
Mentor – like Jesse Taylor did.
