Travis DA won’t seek murder charge against Austin cop Christopher Taylor for 2019 shooting

Travis County prosecutors will not pursue a murder case against Austin police officer Christopher Taylor in the shooting death of a man in 2019, opting instead to seek a conviction on a lesser felony charge.

The attorney for the family of Mauris DeSilva, a scientist and researcher who was shot and killed during what officials and family members said was a mental health episode, and attorneys for Taylor confirmed the development to the American-Statesman on Tuesday. The murder trial was set to start Monday.

A spokesman for District Attorney Jose Garza said the prosecutor’s office would not comment on the pending matter, adding that a pretrial hearing is set for Friday.

Prosecutors recently met with DeSilva’s family, including his father, Denzil Desilva, to inform them of the decision to instead try Taylor on a deadly conduct charge, a third degree felony, attorney Brad Vinson said.

Vinson said prosecutors told them: “We think it is better for the case, better for juries in Travis County on these cases, and that is what we are going to be going forward with.”

“It makes me think that maybe their office thought a Travis County jury would be more likely to convict (police officers), and what they are finding is that Travis County juries are more technical,” Vinson said. “They are very educated and technical in the way they evaluate evidence.”

The decision is the latest instance in which Garza has shifted strategy — or outright dismissed a charge — in a case dealing with police accountability, a major platform that helped the district attorney get elected in 2020 in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder by a cop in Minneapolis.

The murder charge against Taylor in DeSilva’s death garnered national headlines as it marked the second time that the officer had been indicted for murder in an on-duty fatal shooting.

The 2019 shooting happened when officers responded to the Spring condominium building in downtown Austin for a call about a man holding a knife to his neck. By the time officers arrived, the man had gone inside the building, and when officers confronted him, DeSilva did not obey their commands and moved toward the officers with the knife.

DeSilva’s family said the use of lethal force was not justified and that the shooting highlighted how officers must receive better training in handling calls with people suffering from mental illness.

The following year, Taylor was among a group of officers who responded to the parking lot of a Southeast Austin apartment complex in a case that ended with police fatally shooting a man. When officers arrived, Michael Ramos did not obey their commands and instead got into a car and began driving when Taylor opened fire, killing Ramos. A jury was deadlocked last year over whether Taylor committed murder, and prosecutors have since said they are dropping the case.

With forgoing a murder charge, prosecutors will no longer have to prove in court that Taylor intentionally killed DeSilva, but whether or not Taylor fired at DeSilva to defend himself or others likely will remain a central issue.

“DA Garza finally seems to be understanding he’s bitten off more than he can chew with his police officer indictments,” said attorney Ken Ervin, who along with attorney Doug O’Connell, represents Taylor. “But dropping the murder charge while proceeding on the deadly conduct charge shows he still has a long way to go in understanding basic Texas law.

“If it was legal to shoot and kill someone in self-defense, it was legal to shoot at that same person in the first place,” he added.

Vinson said his client was not upset by the case’s latest development but instead is “hopeful for a just outcome for the DeSilva family that results in Officer Taylor being held accountable for his reckless actions that resulted in the loss of Mr. DeSilva’s life.”

Taylor would face a less severe punishment if he’s convicted in his upcoming trial. He could have received up to life in prison if found guilty of murder, but he now faces up to 10 years behind bars if he’s convicted of deadly conduct.

“I think abandoning the murder charge raises serious questions about the state’s ability to prove this case at trial,” said Jorge Vela, a former federal prosecutor and Austin defense attorney who has followed the case. “I think they are saying they overcharged this case, but in the end, I don’t think it changes what the main issue is.

“This comes down to self-defense and the defense of others,” he said.

Garza’s record prosecuting police

In his first term as district attorney, Garza and his Public Integrity Unit have not obtained a conviction in any of the more than two dozen cases they have brought against police officers.

Prosecutors have dropped all but four of 21 cases against officers over their use-of-force on demonstrators during the May and June 2020 protests and instead asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the Austin Police Department.

Garza issued the invitation to the Justice Department in February but the federal agency has not responded.

In March, a jury found former Williamson County sheriff’s Deputies Zachary Camden and James Johnson not guilty of manslaughter for their role in the death of Javier Ambler II. The verdict came just two days after Garza handily won the Democratic primary for district attorney, all but confirming his reelection in the upcoming November election.

It was the third use-of-force trial under Garza to end without a conviction. In October 2022, a jury found former Austin police officer Nathaniel Stallings not guilty of misdemeanor charges from a 2017 arrest.

Garza told the Statesman earlier this year that prosecutors face institutional hurdles in prosecuting police officers, including how law enforcement investigates such cases. He added that taking cases to the grand jury allows for community input in such matters.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Travis DA forgoing murder charge against Austin police officer

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