Rickey Taylor: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

Rickey Taylor James Nicola Sramek

Rickey Taylor’s mugshot. (Gwinnett Police Department)

Police in Georgia say that Rickey Taylor tortured and murdered a mother and her son. In a statement, authorities said Taylor “exhibited the darkest side of humanity.” On the night of August 7, the bodies of James Sramek, 29, and his 61-year-old mother Nicola were found in Norcross, Georgia. Police had gone to their home, along Chelsea Park Slane in Norcross, Georgia, after relatives hadn’t heard from the pair in a few days, reports CBS Atlanta. The town of Norcross is about 20 miles north of Atlanta.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. Authorities Said That James Sramek Knew Rickey Taylor

James Sramek ILLA Facebook Page Usher

Sramek pictured with Usher in October 2015. (Facebook)

In a press release announcing the arrest of Taylor, the Gwinnett Police Department said that the suspect and James Sramek knew each other. The motive given in the statement is robbery. It also reads:

Taylor is a heinous criminal and exhibited the darkest side of humanity. It is very disturbing to know that there are people in our society capable of exacting such levels of violence against others.

He’s being charged with malice murder, armed robbery and false imprisonment. The police statement says that Taylor was arrested on August 6, the day before the Sramek’s bodies were found. That arrest was due to alleged armed robberies.


2. Friends Say Sramek Received ‘Push Back’ in Atlanta’s Rap Community Because of the Color of His Skin

James Nicola Sramek Shooting

(Screengrab via CBS Atlanta)

At the time of his death, Sramek had been working at Tony’s Bar and Grill in Roswell, Georgia, according to his Facebook page. On that page, Sramek writes that he’s a native of Chicago but lived in Atlanta at the time of his death. He attended high school in Joliet, Illinois. NBC Atlanta reports that both Sramek and his mother’s funerals will be held in Chicago.

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He had been making inroads in Atlanta’s hip hop scene for six years, reports CBS Atlanta. One of his co-workers told the station that Sramek encountered “push back” in the rap world due to his race. Simone Young said, “He never let that bother him because his thing was, ‘It doesn’t matter what I look like.'”


2. Police Haven’t Said for How Long Sramek & His Mother Had Been Dead

James Sramek ILLA Rapper

(Facebook)

Investigators aren’t saying how long Sramek and his mother had been dead for before they were found nor has the cause of death been announced. The discovery came at around 10 p.m. on August 7 inside of their apartment in the Barrington Hills complex, reports NBC Atlanta.

Gwinnett police Cpl. Deon Washington told the media, “The manner and cause of death will be determined by the Gwinnett County Medical Examiner. The approximate length of time that they were inside the apartment deceased will also be determined by the Medical Examiner. The complainant for the call was not able to make contact with their family members at that address and requested that the police respond. When officers arrived, they located two deceased people inside the residence,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

A neighbor who lived in the area for several years told the Gwinnett Daily Post that she’d never heard of anything like murder happening in the area.

Nicola Sramek’s daughter, Jamie Arvia, told NBC Atlanta that she “never got to say goodbye.” She added that her mother called her every Sunday, the only call she got on August 7 was from her brother’s job, they were complaining that he hadn’t come to work. Arvia says she didn’t think anything was strange until she couldn’t get a hold of her mother.


3. One Online Tribute Mentioned That Sramek ‘Never Stopped Talking’ About How Much He Loved His Mother

Sramek’s Facebook page has become inundated with friends paying tribute to the slain rapper. One person wrote that since she’s known Sramek he “never stopped talking” about how much he loved his mother. Here are some of the other poignant tributes to Sramek and his mother:


5. A Video On His YouTube Page Shows Him Performing Oral Sex on a Girl at a Party

ILLA James Sramek ILLA Atlanta

(Twitter)

Sramek went by the moniker ILLA in his rapping career. His YouTube channel (WARNING: Extremely Graphic Content) shows four uploaded videos with no updates since 2012. One such video merely shows Sramek performing oral sex on a woman at a party in Atlanta. A Twitter page for his music hasn’t updated since 2012. He was last mentioned on the social media site after he was selected to perform at an open mic night in Atlanta in June 2014.

There are photos on Sramek’s Facebook page showing him with Usher, 2 Chainz and Twista to name but a few.