The news was encouraging late last night: he was doing well, expected to perhaps make it. He’d even squeezed the nurse’s hand.

But Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, just 24, died early this morning, a day after he was shot at home in the leg, severing a major artery. Family friend Richard Sharpstein said Taylor’s father told him the news around 5:30 a.m.

“His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me,” said Sharpstein, Taylor’s former lawyer. “It’s a tremendously sad and unnecessary event. He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans.”

Taylor never regained consciousness after being transported to the hospital shortly after being shot. No one was sure how he had squeezed the nurse’s hand. “Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something,” Sharpstein commented.

Taylor was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging an artery and causing significant blood loss.

Miami-Dade Police were investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor’s home. Officers were dispatched about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor’s girlfriend called 911. Taylor was airlifted to the hospital.

Sharpstein said Taylor’s girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor’s 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house, but neither she nor Taylor’s girlfriend were injured.

“It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery,” Miami-Dade Police Lt. Nancy Perez said. “It has not been confirmed as yet.”

The shooting happened in the pale yellow house he bought two years ago in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay. Eight days before the attack someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed at Taylor’s home, according to police.

“They’re really sifting through that incident and today’s incident,” Miami-Dade Detective Mario Rachid said, “to see if there’s any correlation.”

Born April 1, 1983, Taylor starred as a running back and defensive back at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami. His father, Pedro Taylor, is police chief of Florida City.

A private man with a small inner circle, Taylor rarely granted interviews. But, behind the scenes, Taylor was described as personable and smart — an emerging locker room leader.

Especially since the birth of his daughter.

“From the first day I met him, from then to now, it’s just like night and day,” Redskins receiver James Thrash said. “He’s really got his head on his shoulders and has been doing really well as far as just being a man. It’s been awesome to see that growth.”

Taylor was not so much perfect as he was human, falling victim, perhaps, to the throes of celebrity and stardom, like so many athletes paid exurbanite amounts of money. Driving home late from a party during his first season with the Redskins, he was pulled over and charged with drunken driving. The case was dismissed. He also was fined at least seven times for “late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006.”

Meanwhile, Taylor was accused in 2005 of “brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near his home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months’ probation.”

The Redskins, the NFL and others will mourn. Such a senseless loss of life—and a one-year-old daughter left in the wake without a dad.

Sad.