(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-01 21:15

MIAMI - The family of slain Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor will get little comfort from the arrest of four suspects, a family friend said, particularly since it appears the killing happened because of greed.

Undated photos provided by the Miami-Dade Police Department shows the four suspects, Venjah K. Hunte, 20, Jason Scott Mitchell, 17, Eric Rivera, Jr., 17, and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18, arrested Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, in connection with the shooting death of Washington Redskins football player Sean Taylor. [Agencies]

"They targeted him for his wealth," said Richard Sharpstein, Taylor's former attorney. "It makes his death even more pathetic, unnecessary and just actually disgusting."

Police arrested four people Friday in connection with Taylor's shooting death, saying they went to the home intent on committing a burglary, not killing.

The suspects didn't expect Taylor to be there, said Miami-Dade County police Director Robert Parker, but the Redskins safety was recuperating from a knee injury and had returned from Washington. When Taylor surprised them, he was shot.

"They were certainly not looking to go there and kill anyone," Parker said. "They were expecting a residence that was not occupied. So murder or shooting someone was not their initial motive."

Police spokeswoman Linda O'Brien identified the suspects as: Venjah K. Hunte, 20; Eric Rivera Jr., 17; Jason Scott Mitchell, 19; and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18. O'Brien said the charges for each had not yet been determined, but "we are talking murder and burglary."

Authorities had more than one confession, but Parker would not elaborate.

The four were arrested Friday in southwest Florida, about 100 miles from Miami. They will be booked into the Lee County Jail and eventually will be returned to Miami, O'Brien said. She did not have any information on when they would appear in court, their hometowns or if they had attorneys.

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