AUSTIN, Texas — Austin Police Department (APD) officer Christopher Taylor, who has been charged with murder in the April 2020 death of Michael Ramos, is now on administrative duty, according to the department.
APD confirmed the news in Thursday statement sent to KVUE, saying that Taylor's status was changed to "administrative duty with pay." The statement further clarified that in this role, he would be providing administrative support to Bureau Detectives.
According to the department, the adjustment was made to "maintain consistency with the status of other Austin Police Department officers currently under indictment."
Taylor recently stood trial in November over the death of Ramos, but a mistrial was declared after the jury could not reach a unanimous verdict. November's mistrial followed one that was called in April after an issue arose with jury selection.
On Dec. 4, Travis County District Attorney José Garza confirmed that his office intended to take Taylor back to trial for a third time.
Taylor also faces a second unrelated murder charge involving the death of a man, Mauris DeSilva, in 2019. He and a fellow officer opened fire on DeSilva after they said he moved toward them with a knife. DeSilva’s family has said he was suffering a mental health break at that point.
Travis County Judge Dayna Blazey has not yet decided whether the Ramos case or the DeSilva case will be heard first. Taylor's defense has that the 2019 case should be tried first because it will likely be a much shorter case, and it happened before the Ramos case in 2020. The state prefers that the Ramos case be tried first.