By Melanie Eversley

A 26-year-old Black man who was one of three fatalities in a mass shooting in the Seattle area was his mother’s “miracle child” and an aspiring actor, his mother told The Seattle Times.

Ezra Nehemiah Taylor was an innocent bystander trying to break up a fight when he and five others were shot Sunday outside of a pub in Des Moines, Wash., 15 miles south of Seattle. Police are calling the shootings homicide. Taylor was shot in the head.

When Taylor was born, he went without oxygen for 10 minutes and doctors told his mother, Selena Taylor, that he would never walk or talk. She told the Times that she was floored when he began talking at age 4. That was followed by many other developmental successes, but also multiple trips to the hospital, Taylor said.

Taylor, who worked as a security guard, attended acting school and completed his first acting role this year for a movie titled, “It Takes Talent.”

His family plans to show the trailer at his memorial service on Saturday.