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Gathering of fond memories

Friends and family share stories of the man who was killed in Monday's shooting and car crash.

By JONATHAN ABEL, Times Staff Writer
Published October 11, 2007

Family and friends of Michael Scott gather by the utility pole near the intersection of North Betty Lane and Woodbine where Scott crashed his car Monday after being shot.
	[Joseph Garnett, Jr. | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Ted McLaren | Times] Terria Moore, Michael Scott's mother, pauses while sitting with family on Wednesday. [Family photo] Michael Scott, 23, called "Big Baby" by family and friends, played offensive line and linebacker for the Greenwood Panthers football team. He planned to enroll at St. Petersburg College to get his GED.

CLEARWATER - A crowd returned Wednesday night to the scene of Michael Scott's slaying.

But unlike Monday, the 75 or more residents weren't there to watch the police investigate Scott's shooting and subsequent car wreck.

Instead, they came to the corner of N Betty Lane and Woodbine Street for a vigil to remember Scott's life. Family and friends brought flowers. They held hands and prayed for heavenly justice and the power to stop Satan's "rampage."

Meanwhile, Clearwater police, who have charged one man in Scott's death, continued to comb the neighborhood for more people involved in the attack.

Scott, 23, was driving north on N Betty Lane on Monday afternoon with three passengers when his car was hit by a barrage fired by Gaylord Shaw, 19, police say. Hit in the chest and knee, Michael Scott died after his car crashed into a utility pole. His brother, Antonio Scott, was also injured in the crash.

Shaw is being held without bail at the Pinellas County Jail on one count of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted murder and sale and possession of crack cocaine.

Police and relatives say the shooting was the result of an ongoing feud pitting the Scotts against a group of other young men, including Shaw.

One of the men involved in the feud, 18-year-old Xavier Jones, was arrested Tuesday night. He was charged with robbery and throwing a bottle at a passing car. The incident took place on Oct. 5 at the same intersection where gunfire erupted Monday.

A police arrest affidavit named two co-defendants in the robbery and bottle-throwing incident: Anthony Bascomb, 20, and a 17-year-old.

Bascomb was arrested the day of the robbery and booked on charges of robbery, misdemeanor battery and violating probation. It is unclear if the teenager, whom the Times is not naming because of his age, was in custody.

None of the three has been charged in connection with Monday's killing.

"Are they part of the two groups that are feuding?" said police spokeswoman Elizabeth Daly-Watts. "They are. Are they part of the murder? We have no information indicating that at this time."

Family and friends of Michael Scott remember him for his enormous size 6-foot-3, 300 pounds and smile. He played offensive line and linebacker for the Greenwood Panthers football team. He planned to enroll at St. Petersburg College to get his GED. Recently, he had taken his 2-year-old daughter, Trinity, to Disney World.

Before the vigil, Scott's extended family gathered at his aunt's house in Belleair. They joked about the songs and nicknames he had made up for his various cousins. Everyone called him "Big Baby" except for his daughter who called him "Fat Daddy."

To his cousin, 15-year-old Terry Johnson Jr., Michael Scott talked about football. With cousin Robert Bell, 16, Scott explained how to talk to girls. LaQuita Dixon, 16, remembers that anytime she needed a ride she could call up her big cousin and he'd pick her up.

"He was a good boy," uncle Ulysses Moore said. "He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

His mother, Terria Moore, 49, had just come from the funeral home, and before that, the hospital, where Antonio Scott is still recovering. Moore said Antonio had started to talk and to recall what had happened. He was determined to help police catch his brother's killer.

"Michael was a very kind person," his mother said. "He always had a smile on his face. He never let anything bother him too much."

Jonathan Abel can be reached at jabel@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4157.

[Last modified October 10, 2007, 21:21:56]