Mary Wittig, mother of Rockingham County firefigher Dennis Taylor, sobs into the flag that covered her son's casket during interment services at the Whitmer family cemetery near Fulks Run, Va., on Friday.
Friday began with a funeral and ended with another. The day before I had covered another one. It was three too many.
Thursday’s funeral was for 5-year-old Kaylee Whetzel. Friday morning’s funeral was for her mother, Allaina Taylor, 39, and the afternoon funeral was for her stepfather Dennis “Chip” Taylor, 36.
The three were found murdered in their Mathias, W.Va. home on Oct. 23 .
Rockingham County Firefighers escort the casket of Dennis Taylor into the Cornerstone Church of Broadway before funeral services on Friday.
Hardy County, W.Va., Sheriff’s Office say the three victims were shot in their home. Following the shooting, the home was set on fire in an attempt to cover up the crime, deputies say.
Dennis Taylor’s ex-wife, Lorie Ann Taylor, and her new husband, Nakia Heath Miller, both 34, have each been charged with three counts of murder and one count of arson.
Deputies say Lorie and Dennis Taylor had been involved in a heated custody battle over their three children.
Memorial service at the Mathias Church of the Brethren for 5-year-old Kaylee Grace Whetzel who was one of the three victims in the triple murder in Lost City, WV.
In my opinion there is nothing harder to shoot as a newspaper photographer. As a photographer you don’t want to be there intruding into a family’s grief. And even though I have never attended a funeral that we did not have permission from the family to cover, there are always mourners that look at us as ghouls and would prefer we had not come.
It is a very delicate and fine line to walk. Every move you make is seen and every click of the shutter is heard.
Of course I try to be as quiet, unobtrusive and respectful as possible. I don’t think I shot 75 frames between the three services.
I hope that the photos that I take and the newspaper publishes are found to be sensitive and respectful to the family and our readers.
Michael Whetzel, father of 5-year-old Kaylee Grace Whetzel, leaves the memorial service for his daughter at the Mathias Church of the Brethren in Mathias, WV.
Pastor Ken Brand sings with the congregation during funeral services for Allaina Taylor at Ivanhoe Presbyterian Church in Lost City on Friday.
Pallbearers carry the casket of Allaina Taylor past members of the Mathias-Baker Rescue Squad during interment services at Laurel HIll Cemetery in Lost City on Friday.
Recognition is always nice. So when I opened the august issue of News Photographer Magazine, I was thrilled to see an advertisement for ZUMA Press, the agency that represents me, with one of my photographs. ZUMA is all about doing photos big when they use them. Whether it is in their advertisements or in their [...]
I had some time to kill before an assignment near the White House and decided to swing by and see if there might be some sort of protest. There always seems to be someone there protesting something. I was disappointed to see nothing was happening so I headed across Pennsylvania Ave. to Lafayette Park looking [...]
Kenneth Feinberg (born October 23, 1945, Brockton, Massachusetts)[1] is an American attorney, specializing in mediation and alternative dispute resolution. Feinberg was appointed Special Master of the U.S. Government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund and currently serves as the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, popularly called the "pay czar." Additionally, Feinberg currently serves as the government-appointed administrator of the BP Deepwater Horizon Disaster Victim Compensation Fund.
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