NORFOLK, Va. — A former gang head will spend 45 years behind bars for his role in the murder of a 23-year-old man as well as a racketeering conspiracy.
Rashaun Antonio Taylor, a.k.a. "Diablo," was a leader of the Nine Trey Gangsters, which is affiliated with the United Blood Nation.
On March 11, 2014, Taylor followed 23-year-old Delante Eley to Eley's grandparents' home where he shot and killed him. This followed a string of incidents between Eley and members of Taylor's gang.
Two days later, Taylor and other gang members were stopped by the police while armed with a high-powered Romanian-made semi-automatic rifle.
Detectives executed a search warrant on Taylor's home and recovered gang paraphernalia and a cell phone. The FBI analyzed Taylor's phone and found it had been turned off for a couple of hours before and after the murder.
Investigators also found that nearly 200 calls had been placed between the time of the murder and the traffic stop had been deleted.
A confidential informant later videotaped a gang meeting led by Taylor, and several days later Taylor was overheard by the FBI and Portsmouth Police via a wire transmitter admitting to the murder.
On February 20, 2020, after a week-long trial, a jury convicted Taylor of racketeering conspiracy that included murder, the use of a firearm resulting in death, distribution of heroin, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
