SPRINGFIELD — In early October, SusanLynn Taliaferro chatted on FaceTime with her son. She was preparing for a nursing exam at Springfield Technical Community College — and he knew that.
“You got this test,” she remembers her son, Jahim Solomon, telling her.
That was the last time she saw him alive.
Solomon, who was 21 and lived in Pittsfield, and his friend Eric White, of Chicopee, also 21, were reported missing in mid-October while traveling in Vermont. They were found dead in Eden, a rural town of about 1,300 people not far from the Canadian border.
Both men had been shot in the head and were found Oct. 24 and 25 about a mile apart on the Albany-Eden Road. Six weeks later, no arrests have been made in the homicides. Vermont State Police are continuing to investigate and don’t have updates to share, according to Adam Silverman, an agency spokesperson.
White and Solomon’s grieving families continue to search for answers.
“I want to see someone get charged. I want this guy to feel the same way I feel,” said Aaron White, Eric White’s father. Knowing no one been charged in the homicide is “unbearable,” he said. “I know it’s going to take time. But I want this done yesterday. Hopefully justice will play out.”
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White grew up in Chicopee and Holyoke. Solomon grew up mostly in Pittsfield, according to their families.
“When you meet Eric, you couldn’t help but fall in love with this kid,” said Shawn Garcia, his brother. “He’s somebody who makes you want to laugh.”
Solomon was funny and outgoing and had a young daughter with his girlfriend, Taliaferro said.
“They had the most beautiful smiles in the world,” Taliaferro said of Solomon and White. “You could see their heats through their smile.”
The two men met as teenagers after each had gotten in trouble and were in the state’s juvenile justice system, their families said. As adults, both served time in jail, according to their families and court records.
Last year, White pleaded guilty to negligent operation of a car and assault and gun charges and spent time incarcerated. In late October, police filed a stolen motor vehicle charge in Chicopee District Court against him for an alleged August offense. He had gotten into an crash in a stolen car and broke his femur, his father said.
Aaron White loved his son but knew he had a habit of getting into trouble. “I was always prepared for something bad to happen,” he said. “I didn’t think anyone was going to kill this kid. I’m heartbroken. … I’m just devastated. I wouldn’t wish this on anybody.”
Solomon had also been in and out of court as an adult.
Jahim Solomon. (Image courtesy of SusanLynn Taliaferro).Submitted
“He got mixed up with selling drugs to make quick money,” Taliaferro said of her son. She said he struggled to find work that paid well, especially with a criminal record, and wanted to provide for his daughter, now almost 2. Most recently, he had worked at a papermill.
Early last year, Solomon was sentenced to 18 months on several misdemeanor firearms charges tied to a July arrest in Pittsfield. He had also faced a charge of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, but it was dropped when he plead guilty to other firearms charges.
When he was released, he struggled and looked to Taliaferro for help, she said. She wants to see more support for formerly incarcerated people to get back on their feet after their release. “Some type of program to help these men to go back into society and obtain a job and take care of their families,” she said. “Help them get them on the right path.”
Theories of case
Why they were traveling more than 200 miles from home together in October is part of the police investigation, Silverman said.
Garcia believes they went to Vermont to sell drugs and the deal went wrong. Taliaferro doesn’t think the trip was drug-related, but does think it was about making quick money.
“Whatever they were doing,” Taliaferro said, “I don’t give a rat’s ass. The fact is they shouldn’t have been murdered the way they were.”
It’s been a month since she buried her son. “That was the most horrific thing a parent can go through,” she said, choking up. “Your children are supposed to bury you.”
Police said in late October the case is complex and they have suspects and people of interest. Before the two men disappeared, they had visited the Vermont communities of Burlington, Lowell, Morrisville and Stowe, according to police.
The case is open, but state police were not able to provide further updates on the case. “In order to avoid compromising the integrity of the investigation, I don’t have any additional information that I’m able to share at this time,” Silverman said in a statement.
Vermont saw an unprecedented number of homicides and suspicious deaths in a period of a few weeks starting in early October, Silverman said. That month, seven people — including Solomon and White — were killed in homicides and another person was killed in a death that police labeled suspicious.
The uptick is “certainly the most I can remember in my 20-plus years here at the state police,” Major Dan Trudeau, commander of the state police’s criminal division, told Vermont newspaper Seven Days. Trudeau was not available for further comment.
Police do not believe White and Solomon’s deaths are connected to other Vermont homicides in October, according to Silverman.
Eric White, left, and Jahim Solomon. (Vermont State police photos)Vermont State police photos
One suspicious death in October has a connection to Massachusetts.
Tanairy “Tanya” Velazquez Estrada, 23, was found dead in Washington, Vermont, on Oct. 25, the same day White was found. Hunters found her in the woods along Poor Farm Road, according to police.
That same day, her mother reported her missing to Fitchburg Police, telling authorities she had not heard from her in more than a week.
The state’s medical examiner has not yet ruled on her cause and manner of death, according to a spokesperson. Toxicology results could take months, police have said.
Her preliminary death certificate lists her residence as Fitchburg, but police said she most recently lived in Barre, Vermont.
Those with information about the death of Estrada can call the State Police’s Berlin barracks at 802-229-9191.
Anyone with information about White and Solomon’s deaths can call the State Police barracks in Derby at 802-334-8881. Anonymous tips about all three deaths can be submitted online at: https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.
Aaron White encourages anyone with a tip, even if it seems small, to contact police. He doesn’t want his son’s homicide investigation to go cold.
“That’s my biggest fear,” White said. “He will fade away and everyone will forget about it.”
