A former student from Wilson County, who was charged with the shooting death of a Mt. Juliet High School student when he was 15 years old, has died while in state custody. Ethen Vanderpool, who was 20 at the time of his death, was convicted of second-degree murder in September 2022 for the 2018 killing of 16-year-old JayShawn Taylor. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison in January.
According to Dorinda Carter, a spokesperson for the Tennessee Department of Correction, Vanderpool passed away on Saturday at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, where he was being held. He had been transferred to the state prison in February from the Wilson County Jail.
The cause of Vanderpool’s death has not been confirmed yet, and a review will be conducted by the medical examiner. The Tennessean will provide further details as they become available.
The shooting took place in November 2018 when Vanderpool, Taylor, and two girls met at Vanderpool’s residence to sniff glue, as revealed by court documents. Vanderpool was initially charged as a juvenile but was later tried as an adult in March 2019. His sentence took into account the time he had already spent in custody, dating back over four years. Officials stated that Vanderpool had been homeschooled but was previously enrolled in Wilson County Schools.
During the trial, text messages were presented as evidence, showing Vanderpool’s initial concerns about Taylor coming to his home. Testimony revealed that Vanderpool brought out a gun during the gathering and allowed Taylor to handle it. At some point, the weapon fell from a bed and landed on the floor. When one of the girls went to retrieve the gun, Vanderpool became angry, grabbed Taylor’s shirt, and backed him onto the bed, leading to the fatal gunshot.
For more information, contact Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939. You can also reach him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @AndyHumbles.
(This article was originally published on Nashville Tennessean: Ethen Vanderpool dead after murder conviction in high schooler’s death)
