Sean Ethan Owen

Sean Ethan Owen (1981 - February 17, 2004), a white gay man, was shot, choked, beaten, kicked stomped and left to drown on February 17, 2004, in Durham, NC, by three men who intended to steal his car. One of them men met Owen online by posing as a gay man and, via chat and text messages, lured Owen to the meeting where he was attacked.

Owen, 23, lived in Franklinton, NC, with his parents and sister. He was originally named Michael Owens Jr., but changed his his first name to Sean and dropped the “s” from his last name after someone stole his identity and wrecked his credit.¹⁾ He worked at Wireless XPress on Creedmore Road in Raleigh.²⁾

When he was 18, he told his mother he was gay, and she told him she already knew. Owen's father said he knew his son was gay, but that they never talked about it.³⁾

On the morning of February 17, 2004, Owen walked into the kitchen of his parents home where his half-sister, Tiffany McFall, was washing dishes. He showed her his cell phone and told her of his plans to meet up with a man he had met on a chat line.⁴⁾ Owen said he was going to pick up a black man named “Blue.”⁵⁾

Owen met “Blue” on a chat line in February 2004, and the two exchanged text messages in which they discussed spending a night together. Owen would drive from Franklinton to Durham. “Blue” asked what kind of car Owen would be driving, and Owen answered that he would be driving a burgundy 1989 Ford Contour.

“Blue” would turn out to be Michael Taylor, 16, who saw gay men on the chat line as easy targets for crime.⁶⁾

Taylor was a student and football player at Northern High School. He shared a room with his cousin, Shelton Deangelo Epps, 21, at his grandmother's house on Lazy River Drive in Durham.⁷⁾

According to Epps' statement to police he, Taylor, and Derrick Arness Maiden, 18, gathered at the Lazy River Drive house on February 17. Taylor told them about another guy who had used the chat line to steal a car and said he wanted to try it. He used his cell phone to call Owen, and arranged to meet him at a nearby “clubhouse.”⁸⁾

On the way out, Taylor grabbed his .32 caliber revolver. It was loaded with just two bullets.⁹⁾

According to Epps' account, when Owen arrived, the three men asked him for a ride. Owen drove them to a store in Roxbury, where Epps bought a cigar they planned to use to smoke marijuana. Owen then drove them to Old Farm Park, where Epps broke up the cigar and brought out the marijuana.

In front of the car, Taylor drew the gun, cocked the hammer, and put the gun to Owen's head. Owen said “Please don't do this to me,” and stated to run. Taylor then fired.

Taylor told authorities that the four were walking towards a picnic table, and he was in front of the group when he heard a gunshot behind him. Taylor said he turned and saw Epps chasing Owen.¹⁰⁾

Owen was shot in the head, but he did not fall. The three men ran after him and each punched him in the face. Owen attempted to get back into his car. Epps, now holding the gun, tried to get a clear shot, but could not do so because Owen kept fighting. Taylor then took the gun and shot Owen again, shooting him in the heat a second tim and kept firing the empty gun at him.

Owen was still alive, and the attack continued. “The old boy is still moving,” Epps said in his statement, “I'm thinking the old boy is a soldier.”¹¹⁾ Epps said he kicked Owen in the head once, and stomped on his head twice, and Maiden kicked him in the side. With Owen nearly dead, the three men dragged him to the edge of the Eno River and rolled him into the water.¹²⁾ According to Taylor, Epps and Maiden kicked and beat Owen, Epps shot Owen in the head a second time, and then Epps and Maiden threw Owen's body into the river.¹³⁾

McFall became worried when she could not reach Owen, and he did not return home by 5:00 p.m.¹⁴⁾ On February 20, 2004, when Owen failed to return home, his mother and step-father filed a missing persons report with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office.

On February 21, 2004, Owen's body was found in a shallow area of the Eno River¹⁵⁾, by a group of teenagers who were playing soccer near Old Farm Park.¹⁶⁾ He had been shot twice in the head. The cause of death was later determined to be drowning, which meant Owen was still alive when he was rolled into the water, after having been shot, beaten, kicked, and stomped.¹⁷⁾

Taylor drove the car to his school school where he parked it in a fire zone¹⁸⁾ and, on February 18, police placed a boot on the car.¹⁹⁾ Taylor said Maiden drove the car from the scene, and gave student Jimetrius Harris the money to have the boot removed.²⁰⁾ Harris, however, told authorities that a student named “Matt” – also known as “Blue” – had given him the money for the fine, and the car keys. Harris mentioned that “Matt” played football, and identified Taylor in a football catalog.²¹⁾

On February 21, after Owen's body was discovered, Taylor learned from a friend that the police were looking for him and for Owen's car. ²²⁾ On February 22, Taylor, Maiden, and Epps drove Owen's car to Shepherd Street, wiped down the interior with bleach to remove any fingerprints, and doused the interior with lighter fluid. Epps used his lighter to set fire to the interior. Police said the fire went out later, leaving the interior intact.²³⁾

Taylor, Maiden, and Epps

Police found Owen's car on February 21, in the 600 block of Shepherd Street. Authorities then cellular records for Owen and Taylor, which revealed that Owen was planning to meet Taylor, a.k.a. “Blue,” in Durham on February 17. Owen's cell number appeared on Taylor's cell records for February 16 and 17.

Owen's stepfather, Calvin Bicknell, told police that several items were missing from the car, including a pack of compact discs and a pair of Timberland boots. When police served a search warrant at Taylor's home, they seized several pair of Timberland boots, compact discs, .32 caliber shell casings, and three cell phones.²⁴⁾

Epps told investigators that it was Taylor's plan to lure Owen to Durham and steal his car.²⁵⁾

On March 4, 2004, Taylor, Epps, and Maiden were arrested and charged with Owen's murder.²⁶⁾

On March 19, 2004, Taylor, Epps, and Maiden were indicted for kidnapping, robbing, and killing Owen.²⁷⁾

On July 21, 2005, Taylor was found guilty of first degree murder.²⁸⁾ Because of his age at the time of Owen's murder, Taylor was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

On February 8, 2006, Epps was found guilty of first degree murder.²⁹⁾ On February 8, 2006, He was sentencted to life in prison without parole.³⁰⁾

Maiden agreed to testify against Epps and Taylor in exchange for the change to plead guilty to a lesser charge.³¹⁾ He was sentenced to at least nine years in prison.³²⁾

North Carolina's hate crimes law makes “ethnic intimidation” a felony, but does not include sexual orientation.³³⁾