Murder of Whitney Gray by Christopher Taylor investigated on See No Evil

See No Evil is examining the murder of Whitney Gray, who was shot dead by Christopher Taylor during a road rage incident in Independence, Missouri.

In October 2016, 22-year-old Whitney was driving with her teenage niece in the passenger seat and her two young sons, aged 3 and 8 months, on the back seat when Taylor began tailgating them in his SUV.

When the two cars stopped at an intersection, there was a shouting exchange between the 16-year-old niece and Taylor. During the argument, the niece shouted that Whitney’s children were in the car.

The niece threw a cup of clear liquid at the SUV, and Taylor responded by reaching for a loaded handgun and firing a shot through Whitney’s windscreen, hitting her in the chest.

The bullet struck Whitney in the upper chest, penetrated her right lung, and breached a major artery before lodging in her spine.

She bled to death in front of her family within minutes.

Christopher Taylor blamed army training for shooting Whitney Gray

Taylor later tried to blame his actions on a mixture of fear combined with his basic training from his time in the army. He claimed, “I don’t know why, but it was a negligent discharge. I didn’t want it to happen. I couldn’t believe it had happened; I panicked, I just hit the gas. I didn’t know what the hell to do; I was scared.”

The shooter’s attempts to blame his army training were slammed by testimony during his trial when he was described as being “very careless with his weapon.”

After the shooting, Taylor sped home, grabbed a few possessions, and fled to Rapid City, South Dakota. On the drive north, he threw the murder weapon into the Missouri River.

The police were able to hunt him down by following the tracking device installed in his new SUV. He claimed he had intended to hand himself in the following day.

Christopher Taylor convicted of involuntary manslaughter after Whitney Gray killing

Taylor had been charged with second-degree murder, but a jury eventually convicted him of involuntary manslaughter and armed criminal action.

Whitney’s brother, Dylan Gray, slammed the verdict, saying, “I can’t believe after everything that jury was presented with that this is the verdict that they came with.”

Taylor was sentenced to the maximum of seven years for involuntary manslaughter and 17 years for armed criminal action. The sentences will run consecutively.

See No Evil airs Wednesdays at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.