$5,000 Put Up in Hunt for Slayer : 2 Offer Son’s Insurance as Reward

A Sylmar couple said Wednesday that they will put up the $5,000 from their son’s life insurance as a reward to help find his killer.

Their son, Sanford Maurice Taylor, 23, was shot to death Aug. 11 while helping a shoe store employee deposit the night’s receipts at a bank in a shopping center near his home.

“We just want justice,” said Taylor’s father, Ernest. “We’re not that well off financially, but we’re most concerned about putting that animal behind bars.”

Los Angeles police have “a few witnesses and a few clues,” but are hoping the reward will prompt a tip that solves the case, Detective Carlos Brizzolara said.

Taylor, a Navy petty officer who had recently re-enlisted, drove a woman friend to a shopping center at the corner of Glenoaks Boulevard and Hubbard Street to pick up her sister, who was closing a shoe store and had to deposit the night’s receipts.

Saw Man Near Bank

When they arrived at the bank branch about 10 p.m., they saw a man lurking near the bank’s night-deposit window, and waited until he began walking away before getting out of the car, Brizzolara said.

The store employee then started to get out of the car, but, “all of a sudden, this man was right there with a gun,” demanding the money, Brizzolara said.

“She tried to give it to him, but the bag kept hitting the window and falling back into the car,” Brizzolara said.

The car began to inch forward just as the robber grabbed the money and the man shot Taylor once in the back of the head, killing him instantly, the detective said.

“It’s really tragic. The killer had gotten what he wanted but still shot the guy,” Brizzolara said.