In October, a jury found Christopher Taylor guilty of deadly conduct for the 2019 shooting of Mauris DeSilva.
AUSTIN, Texas — Austin police officer Christopher Taylor has been sentenced to two years in prison for the deadly shooting of Mauris DeSilva in 2019.
Taylor is believed to be the first officer ever convicted in Travis County for an on-duty fatal shooting and the first to face a prison sentence.
In early October, a jury found Taylor guilty of deadly conduct in DeSilva’s death. DeSilva was experiencing a mental health crisis and was holding a knife when police were called to his Downtown Austin condo building.
Later in October, the sentencing phase of Taylor’s trial began, with the prosecution presenting testimony for two days, followed by the defense doing the same for two days in November. On Tuesday, Judge Dayna Blazey announced her sentencing for Taylor.
The conviction and sentence also represent the fulfillment of a promise of police accountability by District Attorney José Garza, who ran on that platform in the aftermath of the social justice movement in 2020.
Garza’s office has taken multiple officers to trial but none were convicted.
Background on this case and Christopher Taylor
On July 31, 2019, Austin Police Department (APD) officers, including Taylor, responded to 911 calls coming from the Spring Condominiums in Downtown Austin.
At the time, DeSilva was said to be going through a mental health crisis. Officers found DeSilva inside the building, armed with a knife, threatening to harm himself. They told him to drop the knife, but after he failed to do so, Taylor shot DeSilva.
In August 2021, Taylor and Officer Karl Krycia were indicted for murder in DeSilva’s death. In September of this year, days before Taylor’s trial was set to begin, prosecutors announced they would be seeking a conviction on deadly conduct rather than murder.
Taylor’s trial lasted nearly two weeks before the jury returned a guilty verdict on Oct. 6. The sentencing phase of Taylor’s trial began in late October, with the prosecution presenting testimony. The defense did the same in late November.
This was not Taylor’s first trial. In May of last year, Taylor was expected to stand trial on a murder charge in connection with the 2020 shooting of Michael Ramos – but a mistrial was declared amid allegations of potential jury tampering and the inability to seat a jury.
Then, in October 2023, Taylor did stand trial for that charge, but the jury deadlocked. Prosecutors have since said they will not retry Taylor in the Ramos case.
