Johnnie Taylor Estate Dispute
Salty Dog
Hearing could decide who are offspring of legendary Taylor
06/16/2002
By SELWYN CRAWFORD / The Dallas Morning News
What, God rest his soul, would Johnnie Taylor think?
People wanting to dig up his grave. Using DNA tests to identify some of his
offspring. Charges and countercharges.
If the legendary local blues singer, whose hits included "Disco Lady" and
"Who's Making Love," were alive, he might write a soulful song about the
situation and belt it out at one of his favorite South Dallas joints.
As it is, the 2-year-old court battle over who is entitled to claim him as
their father – although the value of his estate is difficult to determine –
might be settled at a June 25 hearing before Dallas County Probate Judge
Nikki DeShazo.
But that's far from definite.
"This case is so complex, so technical," attorney Gene Box said. "It's just
a very difficult case."
Nine people are party to the case – six who have been identified in court
records as Mr. Taylor's children, either through marriage or his
acknowledgement.
Three others – Tyrone R. "T.J." Hooker of Missouri, Schiffron Taylor Brown
of Louisiana and Bessie Fonda Bryant of North Carolina – want the judge to
declare them children of Mr. Taylor. They want the same rights and
privileges as the six acknowledged children.
The case became so testy this year that the three fighting for legal
recognition asked Judge DeShazo to have Mr. Taylor's body exhumed from its
Missouri grave for extensive DNA testing. The request was denied.
Mr. Box said he could not comment further on the case because his clients –
Jonathan H. and Latasha I. Taylor – had not authorized him to speak about
it. The siblings are from Mr. Taylor's second marriage.
Attorneys for the other parties in the suit also refused to comment.
Of the litigants reached about the matter, the only one who would comment
was Mr. Hooker, who said DNA testing shows he is Mr. Taylor's offspring.
Family ties
Mr. Hooker, a singer who often served as Mr. Taylor's opening act, said that
for him, the suit is not about material gain from Mr. Taylor's estate. He
said he wants to establish family ties.
"They know who's who," said Mr. Hooker, referring to Jonathan and Latasha
Taylor, whose mother, Gerlean, was divorced from Johnnie Taylor three weeks
before his death in May 2000 at age 62. The brother and sister objected to
exhuming Mr. Taylor's body.
"We all knew each other growing up," Mr. Hooker said. "We knew each other's
nicknames. It's more hurting than anything else."
Mr. Hooker, 39, said he thinks those two siblings and their mother are the
driving force behind the litigation because they don't "want to see us get
anything."
It is difficult to determine from looking through the massive court file the
value – if any – of Mr. Taylor's estate.
Documents show that Mr. Taylor owed the Internal Revenue Service $177,000 in
tax years before 1999. And in tax year 1999, his tax liability was $36,322.
Equal division
If the probate judge finds that all the parties who claim to be children of
Mr. Taylor are legally his, then the singer's estate would be equally
divided nine ways among them.
The rights of the six children born into Mr. Taylor's two marriages, or whom
he regularly and openly acknowledged as his children, are not being legally
contested.
A doctor with a nationally prominent genetics-testing firm certified this
year that saliva DNA tests on the other three showed a "99.9999 percent
probability" that they, too, are Mr. Taylor's children.
When Jonathan and Latasha Taylor challenged the results of those tests, Mr.
Hooker, Ms. Brown and Ms. Bryant unsuccessfully sought court approval to
exhume the body of Mr. Taylor so conclusive DNA testing could be done.
Mr. Hooker said – and court documents seem to support – that Mr. Taylor had
a 10th offspring, 34-year-old Crystal Wright, who is not a party in the
suit.
"She's one of my sisters, but she doesn't even want to get involved in
this," Mr. Hooker said. "She said she didn't want anything to do with it."
Music legend
Mr. Taylor was a music-industry legend. In addition to "Disco Lady" and
"Who's Making Love," the Arkansas native also scored big with other R&B
tunes such as "Jody's Got Your Girl and Gone" and "Cheaper to Keep Her."
His televised funeral at Good Street Baptist Church drew an estimated 7,000
people, including R&B icons Aretha Franklin, Al Green and Bobby Womack.
Mr. Hooker said he is proud of Mr. Taylor and their relationship, and he is
optimistic about the outcome of the case.
He said he has almost no contact with most of the litigants in the suit,
although he said he and Ms. Brown – of whom he was not aware while growing
up – have become close in recent weeks.
He said that he has no ill will toward anyone and that no matter how the
court rules, being the opening act for Mr. Taylor is enough verification for
him.
"I know he was my dad, and he knows he was my dad," Mr. Hooker said. "I've
got Jesus in my heart, and the Lord has acknowledged me as his son."
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