Texas’ 7th Court of Appeals has acquitted former Austin Police Department Officer Christopher Taylor, who had previously been convicted in connection with an on-the-job shooting and sentenced to two years in prison. 

“This case comes down to a single, unavoidable question: When an elevator door opens to reveal a man holding a knife who turns toward officers and advances, may an officer reasonably believe deadly force is necessary to prevent an imminent murder? The jury concluded no. The record and the governing law compel the opposite,” the opinion declared. 

“Following a plea of not guilty, Appellant, Christopher Taylor, was found guilty by a jury of deadly conduct by discharging a firearm,” the court noted. “We reverse and acquit.”

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Taylor was sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of deadly conduct, after originally being charged with murder in the shooting death of 46-year-old Mauris DeSilva in 2019. 

DeSilva was in the midst of a mental health episode, walking around an apartment complex, threatening to harm himself and holding a knife to his throat, when he failed to drop the knife after being instructed by officers to do so.

Taylor and another officer opened fire during the incident, while another officer shot a taser, according to the background section included in the appeals court decision.

“In 2019, Appellant, then an Austin Police Department officer, and three fellow officers responded to a 911 call at a downtown Austin condo building. A resident, Mauris DeSilva, had been seen roaming the halls with a knife to his throat and threatening suicide,” the document explains.

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“Bodycam footage showed that when the elevator doors opened, DeSilva was facing a hallway mirror with the knife at his throat. He turned and approached the officers. They had not designated a single officer to issue commands, and all four shouted orders, including ‘show me your hands’ and ‘drop the knife’,” the document says. 

“DeSilva lowered the knife to his side but continued forward. Almost simultaneously, the taser officer fired, and the two officers with drawn weapons fired as well. Appellant fired five shots, and the other officer fired twice. DeSilva died at the scene,” the document notes. 

“Appellant was indicted for deadly conduct with a firearm and pleaded not guilty, asserting self-defense and defense of others,” the document noted, adding that a jury found Taylor guilty and a court sentenced him to “two years’ imprisonment.”

Fox News Digital previously spoke to members of the law enforcement community in Austin who said that Taylor’s prosecution represented a malicious targeting of police officers by Travis County’s progressive district attorney, José Garza.

In response to Taylor’s conviction being overturned this week, Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock said the appeals court decision “once again shows that District Attorney Jose Garza manipulated the criminal justice system by repeatedly trying cases against Detective Taylor, until the jury pool was so tainted that an impartial decision could not be made.”

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“Thankfully, the 7th Court of Appeals saw through this and did their part by reversing and acquitting Detective Taylor,” the union leader said. “They showed that Travis County and District Attorney Garza cannot create their own version of justice deviating from and manipulating state law, while also ignoring police practices.”

The union leader called on Garza “to immediately drop all remaining charges against Austin Police Officers related to his political attacks.”

“The men and woman of the Austin Police Department must be allowed to do the job they signed up for, protecting the citizens of Austin and the State of Texas, without fear of these countless political prosecutions,” Bullock said, adding, “With this ruling, the madness must end, and common sense must prevail.”

Taylor’s trial attorney, Doug O’Connell, hailed the decision to overturn the conviction.

“We are deeply grateful for the 7th Court of Appeals’ decision to overturn the conviction of Detective Chris Taylor and enter a judgment of acquittal in his case. Detective Taylor should never have faced prosecution for defending himself and his fellow officers against a man who threatened them with a knife. The use of force in this incident was both legal and authorized under the circumstances,” he said in part of the lengthy statement.

Garza has long faced criticism from law enforcement for an alleged “war on cops” after the Soros-backed district attorney campaigned on indicting police officers and “reimagining” policing in Austin. Soros contributed $652,000 to the Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC in the months leading up to the 2020 Travis County DA election, according to campaign finance records. That same PAC spent almost $1 million on digital and mail advertisements to help Garza’s campaign.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office for comment on Taylor’s conviction being overturned but did not immediately hear back. 

This story discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, please contact the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

The Texas sheriff spearheading the search for a missing San Antonio teen said Wednesday that he “strongly” believes remains found in a field next to a gun Tuesday afternoon belong to Camila Mendoza Olmos, who vanished on Christmas Eve.

The 19-year-old was last seen at 7 a.m. that day, walking about two blocks away from her home.

“Although it is still too early to definitively say it is her, the body that we found, or what happened to that body that caused the death, I feel personally, feel strongly, that it is her,” Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar said in a Facebook Live video Wednesday. “Certainly a heartbreaking case.”

MISSING CAMILA MENDOZA OLMOS: DASHCAM CAPTURES LAST SIGHTING OF TEXAS TEEN WHO VANISHED CHRISTMAS EVE

He previously told reporters there were no signs of foul play and that the body appeared to have been there for several days. In his video Wednesday, he urged residents to check on their loved ones.

“Especially those that have been going through tough times,” he said.

Olmos had a history of suicidal ideation and depression, he said.

BODY FOUND DURING SEARCH FOR MISSING TEXAS TEEN CAMILA MENDOZA OLMOS AS ANOTHER TEEN DISAPPEARS

“It’s been a heartbreaking week,” Salazar added.

Olmos was one of three teens in the county reported missing in under a week.

Another, 14-year-old Sofia Peters-Cobos, was recovered safely. The third, 17-year-old Angelique Johnson, has been missing since Christmas Day.

A fourth missing person, a 55-year-old man named James Nunnery, also vanished on Christmas, according to the sheriff’s office. He was partway through a road trip to Mississippi and last spoke with a relative around 10 a.m., telling his mother he was 180 miles outside Dallas.

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Anyone with info is asked to call the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office at (210) 335-6000 or email the BCSO Missing Persons Unit at missingpersons@bexar.org.

Fox News’ Jasmine Baehr contributed to this report.

A rewrite of Texas’ social studies curriculum will require educators to teach students about the perils of communism, according to a recent report.

“The new framework, known as the ‘comprehensive’ model, introduces a novel chronological approach to history and signals that the process will result in drastically different new standards,” the Houston Chronicle reported.

Set to take effect in the fall of 2030, “the model, favored by conservatives on the board, boosts the proportion of Texas history, and removes standalone world cultures courses,” the piece said. 

“Third grade will now begin with ‘birth of Western civilizations’ and eighth grade will become a Texas history-only capstone course.”

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The State Board of Education approved the Social Studies plan by a vote of 8-7 in September.

Under the revised standards, the curriculum will focus more on Texas history and U.S. history rather than world history and cultures. 

The Houston Chronicle reported that Democrats on the board raised concerns about the changes.

“Democrats on the board say the new framework reduces representation, will be more difficult for teachers to explain and delays lessons about nonwhite people to later grades,” the piece said. 

“Looking at this storytelling thing, when do people that look like me get to learn about themselves before the fifth grade?” Staci Childs, D-Houston, was quoted as saying in the article, speaking about herself and other Black or Hispanic members of the board. 

The Houston Chronicle also reported, “The standards are also being revised to align with recently-passed state law that requires students to be taught about the perils of communism.”

FIVE HOPEFUL SIGNS COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE SEEKING TRUTH ONCE MORE 

In the revised framework, according to the report, “Students must learn about ‘atrocities attributable to communist regimes,’ including the Cambodian genocide, guerrilla movements in Latin America and the ‘oppression and suffering experienced by people living under communist regimes.’ The lessons must also touch on modern threats posed to the U.S. and its allies by communist regimes and ideologies.” 

Fox News Digital reached out to the Texas State Board of Education; Rep. Aaron Kinsey, R-Midland, chair of the Texas State Board of Education; and Childs for comment. 

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