Surveillance video of 2019 shooting expected to play during APD officer’s trial

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Opening statements began Wednesday morning for the deadly conduct trial of Austin Police Officer Christopher Taylor .

Taylor faces the charge in the 2019 death of Mauris DeSilva .

Deadly conduct is a third-degree felony. It holds a punishment of two to 10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Probation can also be an option.

Case details

Police said officers responded to DeSilva’s downtown apartment after reports he was having a mental health episode, walking around holding a knife to his neck. The department’s chief at the time said when officers found DeSilva, they issued commands to drop the knife and DeSilva did not comply. Police said he moved toward officers with the knife at his side and was shot by Taylor and another officer, Karl Krycia.

Taylor originally faced a murder charge in this case, but the District Attorney’s Office dropped that charge last week. According to online court records, Krycia still faces a murder charge. KXAN reached out to both the District Attorney’s Office and Krycia’s attorneys about that case. Krycia’s attorneys have not responded, and the District Attorney’s Office cannot comment at this time.

Taylor is currently on administrative leave with APD.

Opening statements

Both sides presented opening statements for about 10 minutes.

Prosecutor Rob Drummond spent his time mapping out the contents of surveillance footage from the condo where DeSilva was killed.

“Evidence shows no ordinary prudent person could conclude [DeSilva] was going to attempt” to kill Taylor and the other responding officers, Drummond said. He repeatedly said DeSilva was experiencing a “profound mental health episode.”

Defense attorney Ken Ervin emphasized that the officers do not have the benefit of hindsight and could only go off what they observed at the moment, not anything going on in DeSilva’s head.

Drummond said neighbors who called 911 requested mental health officers and that Taylor and three other officers entered the building before the mental health officer arrived. Drummond said police watched DeSilva on surveillance cameras before entering the building, and made the decision to enter when they saw footage of DeSilva waving the knife at the camera.

Before officers got to the floor DeSilva was on, Drummond said surveillance video showed the officers discussing a plan that included Taylor and Krycia readying themselves with lethal force, another officer readying with less-lethal force, and another ready to “go hands” and physically grabbing DeSilva if necessary.

Drummond said DeSilva’s back was to officers when they got to the floor he was on, still holding a knife to his throat. Drummond said police yelled for DeSilva to drop the knife, and DeSilva lowered the knife and turned around, which is when Taylor fired five rounds and Krycia fired two.

Ervin, Taylor’s attorney, explained that encounter differently. He said DeSilva took a step toward the officers, pointing a knife at them, and was about 3 feet away from Krycia and 5 feet away from Taylor at the time.

“Officers had three seconds to make a decision,” Ervin said. “The State has to prove beyond a reasonable doubt Chris Taylor did not act in self-defense or the defense of others.”

Taylor’s attorneys have long said this was a manner of self-defense.

The surveillance video referenced would be the first public look at the full scale of the incident.

Witnesses: DeSilva’s father, 911 callers, police sergeant, people working at condo

Denzil DeSilva, DeSilva’s father, was the first witness. He spoke about sending DeSilva to the U.S. from Sri Lanka after high school to pursue higher education. DeSilva had a PhD in biomedical and material science, and was one of three children.

“I had three. Now my son is gone,” Denzil said when prosecutors asked him how many children he has.

The next two witnesses called 911 on July 31, 2019, the day of the shooting, to report DeSilva’s behavior. One was DeSilva’s neighbor in the condo, who said he’s had concerns about DeSilva’s mental health status previously. He explained a prior time where DeSilva had etched an “X” with a knife into his neighbors door.

“There was a guy on the street holding a large butcher knife to his throat,” the other 911 caller, who was downtown with his wife, said when he spoke to the 911 operator. Both callers said they were fearful of approaching DeSilva on their own.

Michael Athridge, a current APD sergeant who was the corporal in charge when police responded to the call about DeSilva, testified that he looked DeSilva up and discovered the department has previously responded to him for EDP – emotionally distressed person – calls.

Athridge explained the fact that DeSilva went from the street into the condo while holding the knife elevated the case to a circumstance of higher concern for public safety. He also said lethal force should not be used to stop someone from committing suicide or hurting themselves, only to stop someone from hurting others.

The next witness, Caleb Harris, was at the condo complex working for a moving company the day of the shooting. Harris said he and his coworkers were in the elevator, and when it opened, DeSilva was there with a knife to his throat. The witness told the court he said something along the lines of “no, we’re not doing that,” in an attempt to keep DeSilva from entering the elevator. He said he tried to stay calm so as not to escalate anything, and that he did feel scared.

Part of Harris’ testimony is in the video below.

Harris said DeSilva walked away after he talked to him. When the Defense asked Harris if it would have been possible for DeSilva to stab him from where Desilva was standing, Harris said yes.

Judge to make ruling on Brady rule concerns Thursday

While jurors left the courtroom around 4:30 p.m., that was not the last order of business for the day.

Taylor’s attorneys Ken Ervin and Doug O’Connell claim the State sat on certain information pertaining to the trial and did not share this evidence with defense attorneys in a timely manner. They asked the judge to exclude this evidence and for the court to issue sanctions against the State for not providing it. Something similar happened in the trial for a Williamson County law enforcement officer represented by these same attorneys .

The State said the information, which had to do with former District Attorney Margaret Moore’s decisions not to take Taylor’s case to a grand jury in 2020, was public. The State said Moore deferred all officer-involved shooting cases to current District Attorney Jose Garza once Garza was elected.

Judge Dayna Blazey denied the Defense’s motion Thursday.

Murder charge in separate case for Taylor ends with hung jury

Last year, Taylor was on trial for murder in the 2020 death of Michael Ramos .

The trial began in May, but Judge Dayna Blazey declared a mistrial during jury selection following multiple snags in the process of trying to seat a jury. Blazey is also the judge on Taylor’s current deadly conduct case.

The case was rescheduled for October, where a weeks-long trial ended in a hung jury.

In June, a grand jury’s decision ended the prosecution against Taylor in this case .

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