Fla. Man Arrested Decades After 1986 Killing of Beloved Real Estate Developer

Florida authorities have made an arrest within the 1986 chilly case homicide of a profitable industrial actual property developer.

Jeffrey Taylor, 64, was taken into custody Thursday, April 24, in reference to the killing of 49-year-old Shirley Brant. He is charged with second-degree homicide with a firearm.

“The resolution of this case reflects our department’s commitment to justice, no matter how much time has passed,” mentioned 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 on the crime scene however they have been by no means entered into the Automated Fingerprint Identification System “attributable to not assembly sure standards on the time,” North Miami police mentioned in a press launch.

Investigators resubmitted the fingerprints for evaluation and allegedly matched the prints to Taylor in March.

Brant was on the telephone with a consumer in her actual property workplace in North Miami Beach when two intruders entered on June 13, 1986.

A short lived worker informed police she heard Brant scream after which witnessed one of many males making an attempt to take the telephone away from her.

The witness then heard Brant say, “Don’t shoot!” earlier than she was shot, North Miami Beach police detective Pam Denham beforehand informed PEOPLE.

Police allege Taylor pulled the set off.

At the time, the witness informed the police that the 2 males have been “nicely dressed,” Denham mentioned. “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 males absconded with money and bank cards earlier than fleeing the scene.

Brant’s dying devastated her 4 youngsters in addition to her husband, native dentist Dr. Lawrence Brant, who “by no means received over it,” Brant’s son, Dr. Steven Brant, beforehand informed PEOPLE. “He missed my mother terribly, terribly. He employed a personal eye to look over issues and to see that every part was performed.”

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(Shirley Brant’s grandson, who’s the nephew of Steven Brant, is an editor at PEOPLE.)

Steven Brant described his mom as “a very, very talented woman,” who sang on cruise ships together with her sister within the Sixties earlier than changing into an actual property agent within the early 70s.

He final noticed his mom two weeks earlier than her homicide. “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.”