Suspect in Tennessee college student's death indicted for murder months later

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A grand jury has served indictments in the death of 18-year-old college student Jillian Ludwig who was shot in the head at a park near her campus in November.

The Belmont University student was walking on the track in Edgehill Community Memorial Gardens Park when she was shot in the head by a stray bullet. She was transported to Vanderbilt Hospital where she died from her injuries in November 2023.

Suspect Shaquille Taylor was originally charged with firing a gun. He is now facing one count of felony murder and an indictment for tampering with evidence.

Ludwig's shooting death came with outrage as the public learned Taylor had been released from custody earlier that year for an aggravated assault charge with a deadly weapon because a court ordered he was mentally unfit to stand trial.

At the start of the 2024 Tennessee legislative session, lawmakers had Ludwig in mind.

Rep. William Lamberth (R-Portland) filed a bill that would expand the definition of "adjudication as a mental defective" to include a person who has been found incompetent to stand trial.

The proposed bill was then named "Jillian's Law" by another Tennessee representative in honor of the late Belmont student.

On March 6, Taylor was indicted for felony murder and an additional felony charge of tampering with evidence, months after Ludwig's death.

He is being held on bond at $260,000 for these new charges.