Friday was the one-year anniversary of the death of Maurice Taggart.
A small group of people met at the pavilion overlooking Lake Saracen that afternoon, the crowd perhaps made smaller by the rain that added its own insult to the proceedings. Many were there in support of Taggart’s mother, Nina.
There were smiles and hugs and tears and angry voices determined to keep pushing the case until a more thorough, more satisfying form of justice can be secured.
Balloons were released as a way to put a public exclamation point on his passing.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The case is over, but it’s not. The prosecuting attorney, Kyle Hunter, has said no charges will be filed because Taggart was shot in self defense.
But as pieces of the investigation have been released to the public by this newspaper and by Mark Cannon, an online influencer who organized the anniversary event, many have come to question the prosecutor’s conclusions.
“I just want justice for him,” Nina told those gathered. “I know there’s something else behind the story of my son’s death.”
Taggart had more than his share of troubles in life, both personal and public, what with the charges against him for co-embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Urban Renewal agency he used to run. But he had yet to have his day in court, so in the absence of a guilty verdict, one has to assume innocence.
Unlike actions handed down from a judge’s bench, the prosecutor’s decision cannot be appealed, making his position one of the most influential in a community. One can write letters and otherwise bring public pressure to bear, but there’s no distinct pathway for asking for another opinion on a case a prosecutor has decided on.
That leaves the Taggart case in a murky place. Does the State Police step in? Does the FBI? Neither has, although there’s always the chance one or the other or both are quietly pouring over the case.
Nina has gotten the investigative file and says, like many others, that the facts of the case don’t match up with the prosecutor’s findings.
“I’ve had a chance to go over everything. I have it all in my possession and there are some things that are not adding up,” she said.
Cannon is less nuanced about the case, appearing frequently online to rail against the establishment.
“I don’t care who likes it or not,” he said. “I’m not going to stop until people are locked up.”
Without some outside forces stepping in, however, it seems likely that in a year’s time, a group of people will gather and release balloons on a second anniversary of Taggart’s death and wish for a more satisfying justice to be secured. And that eventuality seems fine with Nina, who has already put this in someone else’s hands.
“We will know all those that were involved. They will be prosecuted, I guarantee it,” she said as beams of sunlight poked holes in the clouds and shone through. “All I need to do is wait on the Lord and he will fix it.”