Levittown murder victim's mom recalls her heroic actions: 'She may have saved their lives'
Mom of woman killed in Falls Township details daughter's heroic move during tragedy
Nancy Daniel, mom of 26-year-old Taylor Daniel who was killed in Falls Township over the weekend, describes her daughter's heroic move to protect her children during a deadly rampage that officials have charged Andre Gordon Jr. with.
PHILADELPHIA - A Bucks County community is mourning the loss of three people who were killed when police say a gunman went on a violent rampage Saturday morning.
Andre Gordon Jr., 26, was arrested Saturday afternoon in Trenton, hours after police say he went to two homes in Falls Township and fatally shot Karen Gordon, 52, Taylor Daniel, 25, and Kera Gordon, 13.
Police have since identified Karen and Kera as Andre Gordon’s stepmother and younger sister, and Taylor Daniel as the mother of his two children.
FOX 29’s Ali Reid spoke with Taylor’s mother Nancy Daniel on Monday.
"She was a great person… loved those girls more than anything. She did everything she could for them," Daniel explained.
Daniel said her daughter was a hero on Saturday, having protected her two daughters from their father.
"She may have saved their lives," Daniel said, "if she hadn’t moved them, maybe they’d be dead too. I don’t know."
Daniel recounted the horrific moments leading up to her daughter’s death, as she says Gordon broke down their door.
"He busted down the door and came into the hallway, and she wrangled the girls into the bedroom to try and hide them," Daniel recalled.
That’s when police say Gordon shot Taylor, killing her.
Daniel says she heard the shots and began hitting Gordon with an axe handle, before Gordon went after her and hit her with the gun. The impact caused the gun to break, Daniel says.
She was left with lacerations to her face, and cuts and bruises on her arms.
Just minutes before the tragic events unfolded in Daniel’s home, officers had responded to a home on Viewpoint Lane in Falls Township for a report of a shooting.
That’s where police say he fatally shot Karen and Kera Gordon.
"I said please tell me it wasn’t Kera, please tell me it wasn’t Kera," neighbor Cindy Coyle-Barile recalled.
Related coverage:
- Andre Gordon: Suspect charged after violent rampage spanning two states left 3 dead
- Andre Gordon Jr.: Court documents reveal new details in rampage that left 3 dead in Levittown
- Suspect in 3 Falls Township murders captured after Trenton barricade
- Video shows SWAT teams pulling people out of windows amid possible Trenton hostage situation
Police say it was just before 8:50 a.m. when Gordon pulled up to his family’s home, and it was all caught on a neighbor’s doorbell camera.
"He heard 10 shots, then he saw him come around, jump back in the vehicle and take off and make a right down Vine (Lane)," Coyle-Barile added.
After Taylor Daniel’s murder, police say Gordon then carjacked a driver at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Dollar General in Morrisville. He then drove that car to Trenton, where police believed he had barricaded himself inside a home.
According to court documents, police later learned he had escaped the home before police arrived. He was finally arrested around 5 p.m. Saturday afternoon about five blocks from where the stolen vehicle was found.
Gordon’s father and brother returned to the scene on Viewpoint Lane Monday to meet with investigators. Broken glass from the incident could still be seen at the base of their front door.
They were seen embracing and hugging neighbors.
"Things like this don’t happen to us in this close proximity. It’s just something that doesn’t happen around here," Coyle-Barile said.
Gordon is facing charges in both New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including first and second-degree murder, carjacking, aggravated assault, burglary, and related offenses.
A GoFundMe page has been established to help the family of Taylor Daniel pay for funeral costs.