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Everette Taylor has a lot to offer—not only to his family, but also to his community. Father to Breonna Taylor, who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020, Taylor is currently serving a 45-year prison sentence. Like many of his fellow prisoners, he was sentenced at a very young age, before his brain was fully developed. Today, he has transformed himself into a compassionate, thoughtful person who would have much to offer as a free man. 

Speaking with Taylor by phone, I got a sense of what a loving family man he is, how introspective he is, and how lonely he feels. It has been even more difficult for him since the pandemic’s two-year ban on visits from family and his girlfriend, Lisa Williams. Everette’s surviving five children—Asia, De’Andrea, Ateaonia, Everette III, and Shantelle—say he always remembers their birthdays and tries to participate by phone on special occasions in their lives.

He says he is trying to “hold myself together” when he speaks with family about Breonna, but he and his family are clearly grieving the loss of her brightness.

The family has suffered grief and trauma from Breonna’s death. This was compounded when she was denied justice in the decision to not charge the officers who shot her. One sister is on anti-anxiety medications and another is on blood pressure medication. 

Everette Taylor spoke with me by phone from Lakeland Correctional Facility in Michigan, where he was being held before being transferred to Macomb Correctional Facility.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Silha: What was it like to grow up in Grand Rapids, Michigan?

Taylor: I was born in Grand Rapids. My pops and my mom were married right before I was born. Although my father was around, he wasn’t present. When I was coming up, I knew who he was, but he wasn’t there much. 

I grew up on the southeast side of Grand Rapids, but by the time I was 16, folks knew me everywhere I went. My granny lived in Kentwood, and I had friends out there. Everywhere I went, people were just attracted to me. You know what I’m saying?

My mom basically raised me in the church. She was a single parent for the most part. She just did everything. We didn’t have a lot. But we didn’t know that then.

I just always wanted to be around her. Whatever she was doing, wherever she was going, I just wanted to be there with her. She did a good job with me. 

I really commend my kids for sticking together. I talk to them regularly. I don’t hold anything back.

When I got to a certain age, I just wanted to do what I wanted to do. That’s how it usually goes. When kids are ready to explore certain things, that’s what happens. It doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the way they’re raised. It’s just that people want to explore the world and are curious about certain things. And that’s the way I was.

I was living a certain type of life when I was young, and certain things just come with it—I was either locked up or dead, basically.

Silha: So, you were getting into a lot of trouble?

Taylor: I was, but I wasn’t. It all depends on what you consider a lot, you know? One infraction on the juvenile record—I wouldn’t consider that getting in trouble a lot. 

Silha: What about when the drug deal and murder happened?

Taylor: Everybody had guns. When I was dealing drugs, one thing led to another. I had to arm myself. Anything can happen. When the murder happened, I was there, but I didn’t shoot a gun. I was a popular dude in the neighborhood. But police thought I could be a suspect for everything that was happening. 

I was never part of a gang, because I was cool with everybody, basically. I was just in my own world trying to figure out things on my own, so I never aligned myself with a certain individual or a group. I was just on the fly, winging it.

Silha: Tell me about Breonna. She was your fourth child, and was born two days before your other daughter Ateaonia?

Taylor: From my firstborn to when Breonna was born, it was about a year’s difference. Asia was born on June 11, 1992, and Breonna was born on June 5, 1993. Days later, her sister Ateaonia was born on June 7. And they were in the same room of the maternity ward!

Ateaonia’s mom was the only one I really had a relationship with. When I was in the room with them, the nurse told me, “You know your other daughter’s over here?” I’m like, “By who?” She said, “By Tamika over here.” [Breonna’s was a cesarean birth.]

So, I basically had six kids before I turned 18. The mindset I had back then was, “I just got to get the money to make sure they are good.” I didn’t have a blueprint for how to be a father, so to speak. 

Every day’s different and every day’s the same.

And that’s the only thing I really regret. Looking back now that I have grown and matured, I see that I didn’t get to deal with the memories that I wanted to. I thought, “Money will take care of everything.” It was the mentality of a child [because I was so young]. When you’re 16, 17, you think you know everything.

I was there [for my kids], but I wasn’t there like I know I could’ve been, now. Looking back, I was a child trying to raise children, and I didn’t know what to do. All I was thinking was, “Do you need anything? OK, I’m going to get the money,” and, “Here, that’ll take care of everything,” instead of building the memories and being there. The way I look at it now, being there is more important than material things.

I wasn’t there for the things that mean something to them: the graduations, Sweet 16s. The way I look at it, I was selfish. But back then, I would never have thought of using those words, “being selfish.”

I really commend my kids for sticking together. I talk to them regularly. I don’t hold anything back. I let them know they can talk to me, saying, “If you all are feeling any type of way, let me know that. Express it to me with no holds barred. I respect you all as adults now to let me know how you’re feeling about me not being there.” And I know they respect me for saying that. 

Silha: What did Breonna say?

Taylor: We remained close. She was 5 when I was imprisoned. She never said anything bad.

For real, though, she reminded me of me. But she was also like her mother, because she spent more time around her mother, and that’s who was her role model. Her mom was there from day one. 

Breonna was a laid-back young lady. She was real easygoing, not quick to get mad about anything, loved to work, just loved life, had big dreams. 

Since I’ve been incarcerated, me and her mom, we’ve been in communication through every move they made, since they moved to Louisville. 

I respect all my kids’ moms, because they never tried to keep the kids away from me. 

Patience is really forced upon you in prison.

I remember in the last JPay (JPay is how prisoners can communicate with the outside world), Bre wrote me, “I hope to see you soon.” And that just sticks with me right there, every time I think about Bre. I wonder what she meant by that sentence, “I hope to see you soon.”

Silha: Did you know it was Dee Dee and Breonna’s mission to get you out of prison?

Taylor: When you mentioned that again, it just … tugged at my heart. Yeah. 

Right before Bre passed, she told me the two of them were on the same mission. So, yes, I knew. But getting me out was more Dee Dee’s idea, because she’s been saying that since she was a kid.

Silha: Do you have a message that you might want to give to people who are protesting in Breonna’s name?

Taylor: I don’t know. Everybody is looking at the situation differently. There is really not a “wrong” or a “right” thing. … You have to be really careful with your words, because people are listening. And when they hear her father, they’ll take into account my feelings and my views. And I don’t want that right now, because it could be positive or negative. I do have some things to say, but I just keep them to myself. All the money in the world can’t bring her back.

Silha: What has it been like in prison for 23 years?

Taylor: Every day’s different and every day’s the same. I’ve worn my blue and orange prison suits every day. I’ve spent 10 months in solitary confinement (for being “in the yard” when a riot broke out at the Kinross Correctional Facility in 2016 when prisoners rebelled over unsanitary conditions).

Now, I live in an eight-man cube. All the prisons are basically the same. But I’ve been down here so long, I just learned to deal with all the different personalities. It’s hard at times, when you don’t want to be around people and you are forced to be around them. But other than that, it’s OK, because I can just be in my own zone. 

It’s a big room, with four bunk beds. We are on top of each other in here, for real. 

Silha: What was it like to be in solitary?

Taylor: It was pretty rough. But the time kept passing. That’s the way I looked at it. I just found different little things to occupy my time such as reading, writing, working out, talking on the phone, visits. We only get 15-minute phone calls. 

Silha: How would you say you’ve changed in your 22 years in prisons?

Taylor: Well, I have changed in a couple of different ways. One, I became a lot more patient with things. And I became a lot more understanding of other people, as well, in terms of what they are going through. I am more mindful of other people’s feelings. I was a kid when I came in here, even though I thought I was grown up back then. But I grew up in here, so to speak, and started to put a lot of things in perspective.

On the other hand, patience is really forced upon you in prison. Because we are at other people’s mercy, we can’t do anything ourselves. If I need somebody to send some money to me or something, I have got to wait for them to do that. 

So I learned to develop patience, in all sorts of aspects of the word.

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Read more:

Why Is Breonna Taylor’s Father Still in Prison After Decades?
Why Everette Taylor Is a Victim of Our War on Drugs