Christian Taylor Shooting: Joshua Taylor Remembers His Brother as Generous Soul

Friends and family remember Christian Taylor as a man with the softest heart.

ByABC News
August 10, 2015, 3:21 PM

— -- In his hometown, 19-year-old Christian Taylor shined for his athletic ability, but to friends and family, they remember him as a man with a soft heart.

"I remember one day he came home without a shirt on," his brother Joshua Taylor told ABC News today. "He had given his shirt to a man on the street because the guy needed one."

"He was always doing stuff like that," Joshua said. "I could write a book about the life we lived together."

The family's fond remembrances of Taylor raise further questions about what happened early Friday, when police officer-in-training Brad Miller shot and killed Taylor after he allegedly broke into a car dealership in Arlington, Texas, police said. Taylor allegedly drove his SUV into the store's front windows and did not comply once officers arrived and told him to surrender, police said. Taylor was unarmed when he was fatally shot, police said.

Taylor's death has once again highlighted the use of deadly force by police in the wake of several high-profile police shootings across the country over the past year.

Christian -- or CJ to those who knew him -- was a week away from starting football practice with his team at Angelo State as a sophomore on scholarship, his family said. At 5-foot-9 and 180 pounds, he played defensive back, last year making 96 total tackles for the team.

Joshua joked that Christian was pretty good at football, but not as good as he. As one of three brothers, there were many nights spent at the neighborhood park, playing with extended family, Joshua said.

"He was fast, I'll give him that," Joshua said with a chuckle.

Outside of sports, Taylor dedicated much of his life to the church, Joshua said, noting that Taylor's favorite sayings were to "not be a prisoner of the mind" and "everyone is capable of anything."

"He was really passionate. Always acting as a minister to anyone he met. Just last month, he told me his calling was to change the world," Joshua said. "He was a straight-edge dude, was good at academics. He had a lot of accolades. I was so proud of him."

The medical examiner has ruled Taylor's death a homicide and determined the cause of death to be "gunshot wounds to the neck, chest and abdomen."