AUSTIN, Texas — This week, a Travis County grand jury cleared three police officers who shot and killed a man in North Austin in June 2022.
The Austin Police Department (APD) said at the time that on June 12, 2022, Officer Spencer Bradley was on standard patrol when he spotted a vehicle disabled on East Koenig Lane and US 290, near Airport Boulevard. Bradley stopped to check on a man who was flagging him down, later identified as 42-year-old Carlos Eli Chacon-Castillo.
Within one minute, Bradley called dispatch and reported Chacon-Castillo was "irate" and had a knife. Three additional officers – John Zavala, Lonnie Cannon and Dennis Kerlin – arrived on the scene within two minutes, according to APD.
As the officers were attempting to get Chacon-Castillo to drop the knife, APD said Chacon-Castillo asked the officers to "just shoot me." APD said Chacon-Castillo was also speaking in Spanish and that Zavala, who is bilingual, was communicating with him.
Chacon-Castillo allegedly advanced toward the officers with the knife in his hands, at which point Bradley deployed a less-lethal round, which was "ineffective." Police said Chacon-Castillo continued to advance toward the officers with the knife in his hands, at which time Zavala fired his gun, striking Chacon-Castillo.
Seconds later, police said Chacon-Castillo got up and advanced toward the officers, prompting Bradley to fire additional less-lethal rounds at him. Those rounds didn't deter Chacon-Castillo, so Kerlin fired his gun, striking Chacon-Castillo and causing him to fall.
Once the officers could determine that Chacon-Castillo no longer had the knife and didn't post a threat, they attempted life-saving measures until EMS medics arrived on the scene and took Chacon-Castillo to the hospital. He was later pronounced dead.
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On Tuesday, a Travis County special grand jury decided not to return an indictment for the three officers.
"The District Attorney’s office takes the work of presenting all facts and evidence to a grand jury very seriously,” Travis County District Attorney José Garza said. “In this case, an independent group of members of the Travis County community heard the evidence and law and decided that Officers Kerlin, Zavala, and Bradley's conduct was not unlawful.”
The DA's Office said since Jan. 1, 2021, 94 cases against law enforcement officers have been presented to a grand jury. Including these cases, the grand jury has returned a no bill 61 times.