'Grandma Bandit' Struggled Financially Before Robberies

The man known across the metro Atlanta area as the "Grandma Bandit" was struggling financially before he committed his armed robberies, one of which , according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The newspaper reported that the officers who shot and killed 57-year-old Roxanne Taylor won't be charged in his death. Taylor was shot Friday morning following a police chase that began in Atlanta, progressed up I-85 and ended in North Druid Hills not far from the Taylor is suspected of robbing May 16.

The paper also discovered some new information about Taylor. Here's an excerpt:

Taylor was born 57 years ago as Donald H. Ellis Jr. of Alabama, records show.

Ellis became Roxanne Taylor in the mid 1990s but the gender transition was apparently in name only.

Taylor, a fixed-wing and helicopter pilot, changed his name on his certification with the Federal Aviation Administration in 1996, according to a spokeswoman. Taylor, then known as Ellis, started flying small planes in 1977 and was certified to fly helicopters in 2001.

Taylor last updated his FAA medical certificate in 2006 but has not renewed the required two-year certification since, according to FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.

The reason for the name change are unclear. Repeated efforts to reach relatives still in Huntsville, Ala., were unsuccessful.

You can read the rest of the story here.

CORRECTION: This posting incorrectly identified Taylor as a woman in the second paragraph. The error has been corrected.