AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Travis County District Attorney’s Office will not pursue a murder charge against Austin Police Officer Christopher Taylor for his alleged involvement in the 2019 death of Mauris DeSilva, according to Taylor’s attorney.
“The government has notified us, and the Court that they will not proceed on the Murder Charge and instead will only proceed on Deadly Conduct, a 3rd degree felony,” Taylor’s attorney, Doug O’Connell, told KXAN. “Regardless of the charge, Officer Taylor is not guilty of any crime. We are looking forward to seeing him acquitted so that he and his family can finally put this tragedy behind them.”
KXAN also reached out to the District Attorney’s Office which said “we do not comment on active cases.”
The case alleged APD Officers Christopher Taylor and Karl Krycia used excessive force that led to the death of DeSilva in 2019. Taylor and Krycia were indicted in 2021 on one count of murder and one count of deadly conduct – discharge firearm each, according to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office.
KXAN previously reported that DeSilva was having a mental breakdown in July 2019 and was holding a knife up to his own neck when officers arrived, that was according to APD. Police said DeSilva moved the knife to his side when asked, but after he moved toward officers with the knife, he was shot and later died at the hospital.
“As Dr. DeSilva approached the officers, Officers Krycia and Taylor fired their duty weapons and another officer deployed a Taser,” the Austin Police Department said in a statement previously.
Taylor has returned to administrative duty at the Austin Police Department “providing administrative support to our bureau detectives”, according to APD.
In November, Taylor also stood trial for murder in the 2020 shooting death of Michael Ramos. A judge declared a mistrial after jurors could not come to a unanimous decision. Before that, a judge also granted a mistrial in May due to various issues during jury selection.
In June, the Travis County District Attorney’s Office said a grand jury issued No True Bills in that case. The decision ended the prosecution of the case against Taylor.
Russell Falcon and Brianna Hollis also contributed to this report.