Brother Shot in Self-Defense, D.A. Decides

The Orange County district attorney’s office will not file charges against Reginald Fredrick Traylor, who fatally shot his younger brother Monday outside their Santa Ana home during an argument, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael A. Jacobs said Friday.

Jacobs, who reviewed the case for possible prosecution, said the evidence indicated the 27-year-old Traylor did not intend to murder Rodney Dwight Traylor, 26, and that he shot the former San Jose State University football star in self-defense.

The cocaine that the 6-foot, 4-inch, 310-pound Rodney Traylor allegedly had been using and selling in the days before he threatened to kill his brother in a moment of fury was not a factor in the decision, Jacobs said. He said there was reason to believe Reginald Traylor, who is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 185 pounds, tried only to wound his brother.

“The cocaine--the reasons they were arguing--is not important to me,” Jacobs said. “The bottom line was Reggie wanted Rodney out of the house--’get your stuff and get out’--for whatever reason, and he was confronted and threatened by a man who was much larger than he was.”

Jacobs said the death is considered an accident.

Rodney Traylor, a former defensive tackle who had recently begun helping coach the Mater Dei High School freshman football team, was wounded once in the groin and died at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital Tuesday morning, police said. The bullet struck a femoral artery, and the younger Traylor lost a considerable amount of blood, investigators said.

Reginald Traylor was handcuffed outside the brothers’ home on Pine Street after the shooting and was arrested on suspicion of murder while the Santa Ana Police Department investigated the case. He was released late Wednesday night. Without a formal charge authorities were bound by law to release him after he had spent 48 hours in custody.

Detective Satisfied

Santa Ana Police Detective Gary Bruce, who investigated the case, said Friday that he was satisfied with the prosecutor’s decision not to charge Traylor.

The fact that Traylor had a neighbor call police moments after the shooting and “turned himself in,” Jacobs said, lent credence to his claim that he had not meant to fatally wound his brother.

Traylor had not heard of the prosecutor’s decision not to press charges against him Friday afternoon, and he expressed little emotion at the news.

“I don’t care about that at this time,” Traylor said. “My main concern is the things being said about my brother. I’m worried about his image.”

He stressed that his brother had only recently been using and selling cocaine and that he was a “wonderful man” and a “good uncle to my kids.” It was only when he was high that his personality changed, he said.

On Monday morning, Traylor said, after the rest of the family left, the brothers began arguing over, among other things, Rodney’s cocaine use and the irrational way he was behaving after a weekend of drug use and lack of sleep.

Told Him to Leave

Traylor said he told his brother to move out of the home their mother had left to them when she died a few years ago. Rodney was “upset,” took off his glasses and threatened to kill Reginald, who said he then armed himself with a gun and pointed it at his brother, hoping to keep him at bay.

When Rodney did not back down, Traylor said, “I shot him in the thigh. I aimed at his leg. I didn’t intend to kill him. I never heard of anyone dying of a leg wound.”

He said that in explaining to his six children--6 months to 6 years old--that Rodney was dead he told them that “their Uncle Rod loved them very much” but that he was “not himself” lately.

He said he told them that “Daddy was sorry that he shot him and that if Daddy knew he would die wouldn’t have shot him.”

Traylor said he believes that Rodney was “exposed” to cocaine during his “star” days in San Jose.

But Rodney only began selling cocaine “for the profit” to help out with household bills after Reginald, who ruptured a disc in a December, 1985, construction accident, went on disability and welfare, Janice Traylor, Reginald’s wife, said.

In recent weeks, Traylor said, Rodney’s sales and use of cocaine “rapidly accelerated,” and hewas buying about an ounce every 10 to 20 days for “personal consumption and sales.”

“He felt he needed to help Reg because Reggie didn’t have a job,” Janice Traylor said. “That’s what started it out, and it didn’t work out.”

Leaves Two Children

Rodney Traylor, who is also survived by a sister, Regina, 28, was unmarried but has a 2-year-old daughter and a 4-year-old son who live with their mothers, Reginald said.

“The main thing right now is I want to take care of his kids,” Traylor said.

The family has asked that donations be sent on their behalf to the Rodney Traylor Memorial Fund, c/o Attorney Milton C. Grimes, 2372 S.E. Bristol St., Suite B, Santa Ana Heights 92707.

A wake will be held Monday and Tuesday at Spalding Mortuaries, 3045 S. La Brea in Los Angeles. The funeral will be held there at 1 p.m. Wednesday, followed by burial at Evergreen Cemetery in Los Angeles.