Christopher Taylor, a 29-year-old Texas officer who was charged for murder in April 2020, has now been charged with killing another man. In the latest indictment, Taylor and another officer, Karl Krycia, are accused of fatal shooting 46-year-old Mauris DeSilva in his Austin apartment on July 31, 2019, The New York Times reported.  

According to a lawsuit filed by DeSilva's father, the 46-year-old had severe mental illness and had been holding a knife to his neck when people in the building called 911. Taylor and Krycia knew that DeSilva was experiencing a mental health crisis, but they still responded “as if this were the scene of a violent crime,” the complaint states.

Austin Police Officer Is Charged With Murder in a Second On-Duty Killing: Prosecutors said Friday that Christopher Taylor had been charged with fatally shooting Mauris DeSilva in July 2019, about nine months before he fatally shot another man. https://t.co/xnVdkmRRWP
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Taylor’s lawyers said their client was protecting himself after DeSilva refused to drop the knife and came within three or four feet of the officer.

“What happened was undoubtedly tragic, particularly if it is true the man was experiencing a psychiatric episode, but in no way was this murder,” lawyers Ken Ervin and Doug O’Connell said.

Krycia's lawyer, Jason English, also released a statement in defense of his client.

“While we are sorry any time that a life is lost, we do believe that the actions were reasonable under the facts and justified under the law,” English said. 

DeSilva, a Sri Lanka native, had earned a doctorate degree in biomedical engineering, but also suffered from “increasingly severe mental illness” during the last years of his life, according to the lawsuit. When DeSilva grabbed a knife in 2015 and threatened to hurt himself, Austin police responded and took him to a hospital, the complaint adds. In the weeks before he was fatally shot, the Texas resident was committed to emergency detention.

The neighbor who called 911 on July 31, 2019, to report that DeSilva was having “another mental episode,” allegedly asked for a mental health officer to be dispatched.

According to the lawsuit, there were several other witnesses who also called 911 after seeing DeSilva holding a knife to his neck. Police allegedly spoke to building workers, reviewed security footage and knew DeSilva was experiencing a mental health crisis when they arrived at the scene. 

The plaintiff's team added that a mental health officer was on duty at the time, but Taylor and Krycia responded along with two other officers. Police took an elevator to the fifth floor with a building worker and spotted DeSilva in the hallway as he had his back to them while looking in a mirror with a knife to his neck, the lawsuit states.

DeSilva's father said his son lowered the knife after police told him to drop it. He adds that DeSilva took one step in the officers' direction after they shouted “Hey, man.” 

One officer allegedly fired a Taser at DeSilva while Taylor and Krycia are accused of simultaneously firing multiple shots at the 46-year-old and striking him in the chest. DeSilva was pronounced dead at a hospital.