Jury selection set to begin for murder trial of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor

AUSTIN, Texas - Jury selection is set to begin Monday morning in the case of Austin police officer Christopher Taylor.

He's facing a murder charge for the death of 42-year-old Michael Ramos.

In May, a judge declared a mistrial after potential jurors found flyers about the case on their cars.

The papers asked them to join the fight against officer Christopher Taylor.

This became one of the defense's main arguments why the trial needs to be moved outside of Austin. A judge denied that motion last month.

Ramos' death came just a month before the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Locally, his name could be heard at protests around the city, and his face is at the center of murals on the sides of restaurants.

Ramos, who was of Black and Latino descent, was killed in the parking lot of a southeast Austin apartment complex on Pleasant Valley Road.

Austin police were notified that two people were inside a car doing drugs and cooking meth.

They also indicated that the man in the car, presumably Ramos, had a gun.

Police never recovered a weapon from the scene.

The other person in that vehicle was Ramos' girlfriend.

Cellphone video shows Ramos saying that he doesn't have a gun on him and lifting his shirt and walking in a circle to show that.

An officer shot Ramos with "less-than-lethal rounds" while his hands were still in the air.

At that point, Ramos jumped back into his vehicle and tried to drive away.

Officer Taylor then opened fire, hitting Ramos in the back of the head, killing him.

This case is the first under District Attorney Jose Garza that involves an officer's use of lethal force.

Garza ran on a platform of police accountability.