Cantonment Man Gets Life For 2011 Murder At Hwy 29 Business

August 24, 2012

A Cantonment man was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison Thursday for shooting and killed his ex-girlfriend in the parking lot of a Highway 29 business.

Isreal Taylor, 31, was convicted of the May 1, 2011, murder of 22-year old Jennifer Gilbert. She was shot five times in the head while seated in her Chevrolet Monte Carlo outside the Circle K and Wendy’s at Highway 29 at Kingsfield Road. After the Sunday morning shooting, Gilbert was transported by LifeFlight to Sacred Heart Hospital where she  passed away the following afternoon.

Taylor took the stand Thursday in his own defense, claiming that his cousin, Joshua Middleton, shot Gilbert after she would not pay for $300 in crack cocaine. Middleton denied the accusations.

During the trial, recordings of phone calls were played in which Taylor called Middleton from inside the Escambia County Jail and offered him up to $1,000 to admit to the shooting.

Pictured above: A Cantonment man was convicted of  first degree murder  after shooting a Pensacola woman five times in the head at the Circle K at Highway 29 and Kingsfield Road in May 20111. Pictured below: An Escambia County Sheriff’s Office crime scene investigator photographs the car in which Jennifer Gilbert was shot.  NorthEscambia.com file photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

11 Responses to “Cantonment Man Gets Life For 2011 Murder At Hwy 29 Business”

  1. unknown on October 25th, 2012 1:33 pm

    I think that we all tend to forget what lengths that some drug dealers will go to to get what they want. If they don’t get it, then yeah, you might get shot in the head five times. I have known Isreal almost my entire life, and though he may have reached a very low point in his life, I still to this day DO NOT believe that he is/was capable of doing something like this. I know there are a lot of people just wanting to put this to rest and blame someone, but what if this happens to someone else and the wrong man is behind bars. Most people would do anything to keep themselves out of jail, even if it meant putting someone else in there. Did it ever occur to anyone that that’s what those phone calls were really about?! Just sayin’!! He is not the worst guy ever, but I know that his family is hurting just as much as that girls family. We all know the real Isreal!!!

  2. BK63 on August 26th, 2012 1:03 am

    if u hang out in that enviroment, you can die for it. He deserves to die if he did it. Maybe both of them. Im all for 3 strikes , your out. Dead. Why should we all pay for his u know what in jail? Public execution would solve alot.

  3. Carli on August 25th, 2012 10:55 pm

    Good lord im so sorry for that girl and her family her boyfriend had to be mental or at least just flat out being stupid to shoot her 5 times i dont know her but jeez really dude 5 times? She shouldnt have been shot at all!!

  4. Holly on August 24th, 2012 9:36 pm

    I went to school with this guy..he always was good for nothin..glad he will be doin the time!!!

  5. brent on August 24th, 2012 3:52 pm

    good riddance

  6. Jim W on August 24th, 2012 11:33 am

    @ set the record straight. Thanks for letting us know about the tox screen. Unfortunately there are so many drugs out there that people automacticly assume that the other person was on them as well. So glad you cleared that up it is already ready bad enough a person has been killed but at least this way she will be remembered the wayshe should be. What he did was personal and intentional you don’t shoot someone 5 times without it being that way. So the least we can do is remember her and remember her well. By the way I did not know her but I did follow the story.

  7. Set the record straight on August 24th, 2012 9:52 am

    I think he did get what he deserved. If not the death penalty. I can tell you Jennifer didn’t get what she deserved. She deserved to be alive, and able to raise her kids and see them grow up. She also didn’t deserve the comments about crack cocaine, as she was not a crack cocaine user. I think it was very clear when her toxin screen came back negative for all drugs and alcohol. If anyone in admin sees this it would be great to see another article about everything except that part. It was an argument brought up by the defense to somehow create a “motive”. Would you want your daugter to be remembered as someone who used crack cocaine?

  8. Sane American on August 24th, 2012 9:43 am

    All I care to say is that if you don’t want to do the time, don’t do the crime.

  9. in cantonment on August 24th, 2012 7:17 am

    NO, he did not get what he deserves. he deserves to be put to death,not life in prison. he shot that woman 5 times in the head (he meant to kill her). now the taxpayers have to take care of him for the rest of his sorry life.

  10. jw on August 24th, 2012 6:50 am

    ‘uh.. gee ..sure ill admitt to murder for a 1,000 bucks’…doink.Is this guy dumb as a box of rocks or what?

  11. Say No To Drugs on August 24th, 2012 3:24 am

    Drugs! Addicts think more of their drug of choice than another human being. So sad,
    He got what he deserves.

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News