Antonio Quantrell “Big Trell” Taylor Murder: Chattanooga Cold Case Remains Unsolved

Chattanooga, Tennessee | July 3, 2010

Antonio Quantrell “Big Trell” Taylor had everything to look forward to.

He and his fiancée, Shunoa Jacks, were just three months away from their wedding.

Their baby boy was only 5 months old.

Neither of them knew their family was about to be torn apart forever.

The Phone Calls That Changed Everything

On the evening before the shooting, Antonio, Shunoa, and their infant son were visiting his mother, Kisha Bailey, at her home.

They spent time looking through old family photo albums, laughing, reminiscing, and enjoying one another’s company.

But throughout the visit, something seemed wrong.

According to Shunoa, Antonio’s phone rang every three to five minutes.

“He would start the conversation in that area that we were in, and he would walk out to the garage, but you could tell that he was upset,” she later recalled.

Eventually, the family left.

Antonio dropped Shunoa off at a hair salon before heading home to get their baby ready for bed.

It would be the last time she ever saw him alive.

A Family’s Worst Nightmare

A short time later, Shunoa received a phone call from the Chattanooga Police Department telling her that Antonio had been shot inside their home on the 3800 block of Juandale Trail.

“When I picked up the phone, it was somebody screaming, saying Trell had been shot—just that quick,” his mother remembered.

Both women rushed to the house.

“I saw Trell on our kitchen floor, his legs were spreaded and his arms were spreaded out and blood was everywhere,” Shunoa said.

Antonio had been shot in the head.

Investigators determined the gunman stood outside the home’s garage and fired through a glass entry door during what police believe was a targeted robbery.

He was transported to Erlanger Medical Center, where he died on July 3, 2010.

An Investigation Without Answers

The investigation quickly encountered obstacles.

Antonio’s cousin, who was the only eyewitness to the shooting, allegedly changed his story multiple times and was described by investigators as completely uncooperative.

Police also discovered a marijuana grow operation on the property that night.

Antonio’s cousin and the cousin’s fiancée were later arrested on manufacturing charges, and detectives said they believed Antonio’s involvement with narcotics likely made him the target of the robbery.

Despite those findings, no one has ever been arrested for Antonio’s murder.

Sixteen Years Later

Sixteen years have passed.

The little boy Antonio was hurrying home to put to bed is now preparing to graduate from Notre Dame High School.

“I really had no pops growing up,” Trell Jr. said. “So it was kind of like, I’m like, I gotta make it out, I gotta be the reason.”

Shunoa says Antonio gave her “the gift of a lifetime”—their son.

His mother, Kisha Bailey, has never stopped believing justice will come.

“There will be justice,” she said.

Today, Antonio’s family says solving his murder would be the greatest graduation gift his son could ever receive.

Anyone with information regarding the murder of Antonio Quantrell “Big Trell” Taylor is urged to contact Chattanooga Crime Stoppers at 423-698-3333. Tips may remain anonymous.

© The Vivid Faces of the Vanished

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