Four Men Arrested For Murder of Sean Taylor

Four men have been arrested in the shooting death of NFL player Sean Taylor and say they didn't plan to kill him, Miami-area authorities report.

"[The suspects] were expecting a residence that was not occupied. Murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive," Robert Parker, director of the Miami-Dade Police Department, told the media Friday night.

Just the same, according to police, there have been multiple confessions in the case and the individuals will be charged with murder of Sean Taylor.

"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," he said. "Their obvious motive was to go there and steal the contents of the house."

The suspects are Venjah K. Hunte, 20; Eric Rivera Jr., 17; Jason Scott Mitchell, 17; and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18. Sean Taylor, 24, died in the hospital Tuesday, a day after being shot during an apparent burglary at his home.

Four suspects have been arrested for the murder of Sean Taylor. Clockwise from top left: Venjah K. Hunte, Eric Rivera, Jason Scott Mitchell and Charles Wardlow.

The men knew the NFL star lived at the house, and police told CNN they are investigating the possibility that one or more suspects knew his family.

At 1:45 a.m. Monday, Taylor's girlfriend and the mother of his daughter, Jackie Garcia (the niece of actor Andy Garcia), called 911 and said someone had been shot.

Jackie Garcia did not see what happened to Sean Taylor that night and could not provide a suspect description, Parker told reporters.

She told police she was hiding under the bedding during the attack.

Police said Garcia and Taylor were awakened by noise in the living room and that Sean Taylor got up and locked the bedroom door, but the door was kicked in and two shots fired, one striking him in the leg, leaving him in critical condition.

Jackie Garcia tried to call 911 but was unable to, and used her cell phone instead, police said. There was no evidence the line had been cut.

A break-in was also reported eight days earlier, Miami-Dade police said.

Police say someone forced a window open and left a kitchen knife on a bed. Several drawers and a bedroom safe were searched during the break-in.

Sean Taylor was home unexpectedly in South Florida due to an injury incurred on the football field, his former attorney, Richard Sharpstein, told reporters.

"I think he was surprised or they were surprised to find him," he said.