Shaquanda Taylor was standing outside with her girlfriends in West Oak Lane when she caught the eye of Linden Henry.
“He was driving past and spotted me, and we just started talking,” she said.
Eventually they had a son together, Jaylyn, in 2006 when Shaquanda was 17 and Linden, who went by the nickname “Shorn,” was 24. Although their relationship later ended, Shorn remained in Shaquanda and Jaylyn’s lives. Shorn would pick up his son and they’d spend the day together, but he rarely kept him for an entire weekend.
That’s why what happened in January 2014 was so unusual.
“He wanted to get our son for the weekend, which he didn’t usually do. He came and got him and they worked on his car and played Xbox,” she said. “We talked that whole week, which we didn’t usually do, and he said, ‘Thank you for having my son and for being a good mother.’”
That Friday, Jan. 24, 2014, Shorn was shot and killed in the Crescentville section of Philadelphia in the car that he and his son had worked on together. He was 34 years old.
“Me and my family are very spiritual, and we thought maybe it was God’s way of having him spend time with his son for that weekend,” she said.
Shorn was born Feb. 21, 1980 in St. Catherine, Jamaica. He was the fifth child of 11 children — 10 brothers and one sister. The family came to the United States when he was 11 and settled in Philadelphia. He graduated from Martin Luther King High School in West Oak Lane, and worked a series of odd jobs. No matter what, he always remained optimistic and upbeat with a smile on his face.
Being a father brought a positive change to Shorn’s life. Always a car fanatic, he started securing more stable jobs, including Jiffy Lube and Pep Boys. He was so happy to be a father that he wore his hospital ID bracelet for a month after his son was born.
“All of his siblings had children, and this was his first,” Shaquanda said. “He was very excited. He’d tell people about how our son made honor roll. He was just so proud of him.”
Shaquanda and Jaylyn moved to New Jersey after Shorn’s death. She can see so much of Shorn in Jaylyn, who will be 13 in May. Jaylyn enjoys tinkering with cars, Xbox and collecting Jordans like his dad.
No arrests have been made in Shorn’s case, nor has a motive been identified. Shaquanda keeps in touch with the detective and hopes for a resolution for her son’s sake.
“What broke my heart is he is forgetting how his father sounds and how he looks. Now that he’s getting older, he has so many questions,” she said. “He wants to know why. He wants answers.”
Anyone with information on Shorn’s case is asked to call 215-546-TIPS. Callers can remain anonymous.
In addition to Shaquanda and Jaylyn, Shorn is survived by his parents, Rodolph and Lorna Henry, his Auntie Jean, whom he referred to as his second mom, his siblings and their spouses, 20 nieces and nephews as well as extended family and friends.
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