texas

Tarrant County Grand Jury No Bills Arlington Police Officer in Fatal Teen Shooting

THC, psychedelic drugs shown to be in teen's system, medical examiner says

A Tarrant County grand jury has declined to indict former Arlington police officer Brad Miller in the fatal shooting of 19-year-old Christian Taylor.

Called to the scene of a suspected burglary during the early-morning hours of Aug. 7, 2015, Miller pursued Taylor through the broken glass doors of the Classic Buick GMC showroom without telling his supervising officer, according to Arlington Chief of Police Will Johnson.

Instead of helping to set up a perimeter around the showroom, Miller confronted Taylor and ordered him to get down on the ground, Johnson said. Taylor, who was not armed, did not comply. Instead, he began "actively advancing toward Officer Miller," Johnson said.

Miller's field training officer, who had followed Miller into the showroom, drew his own stun gun. The training officer heard a single pop of what he thought was Miller's stun gun, but Miller actually had drawn his service weapon and fired it at Taylor, who is believed to have been 7 to 10 feet away from the officer, Johnson said.

After Taylor continued to approach, Miller fired his gun three more times.

“Today, the Tarrant County Grand Jury voted to take no action against former Arlington police officer Brad Miller arising from the August 2015 incident which resulted in the death of Christian Taylor. We respect the grand jurors’ decision and appreciate the time they have committed to serve the citizens of our county," said Criminal District Attorney Sharen Wilson.

There is no video of the shooting itself, though security camera footage from the dealership parking lot shows Taylor walking around and damaging some vehicles.

The Classic GMC Buick dealership released this surveillance video of Christian Taylor before APD arrived. Taylor was later fatally shot by police.

Taylor, who drove a car through the glass front doors of the dealership, also allegedly held up a set of car keys and told another officer that he intended to steal a car, Johnson said.

Miller was later fired by the department after Johnson said he violated department policy.

An unarmed teenager was under the influence marijuana and a psychedelic drug when he was shot and killed by an Arlington, Texas, police officer Aug. 7, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office says.

A report later released by the Tarrant County medical examiner said Taylor was under the influence of marijuana and a synthetic psychedelic drug at the time.

Taylor was a graduate of an Arlington high school and a football player at Angelo State University in West Texas.

 
DV.load("//www.documentcloud.org/documents/2329413-1511026-christian-james-taylor-autopsy-report.js", { width: 650, height: 800, sidebar: false, text: false, container: "#DV-viewer-2329413-1511026-christian-james-taylor-autopsy-report" }); 1511026 Christian James TAYLOR Autopsy Report COMPLETED (PDF)
1511026 Christian James TAYLOR Autopsy Report COMPLETED (Text)
Contact Us