Christian Taylor likely used drugs before he was killed by police, autopsy shows
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Version 0 of 1. Christian Taylor, the black college football player killed by a white police officer in Texas, is likely to have used a synthetic psychedelic drug and marijuana before the deadly confrontation at a car dealership, according to an autopsy report released on Wednesday. Taylor was unarmed when an Arlington police officer, Brad Miller, shot him on 7 August. Miller has been fired. Related: Police chief fires officer who fatally shot unarmed Texas college football player The report shows there was THC, one of the active components of marijuana, and a synthetic drug that causes hallucinations in Taylor’s system. The autopsy also showed Taylor was shot four times, in the neck, torso and abdomen. The 183cm (six foot) tall 19-year-old attended Angelo State University in San Angelo, west Texas, where he was to start his sophomore year on the team. The Tarrant county district attorney has said it will bring a case against Miller, 49, to a grand jury. However, the Arlington police department has yet to hand over the case, a spokeswoman, Samantha Jordan, said. Miller’s attorney, John Snider, said he hoped that with this evidence, the Arlington police chief would reconsider his decision to fire Miller. Security footage from the lot shows Taylor breaking out the windshield of a car on the lot and then driving his vehicle into the glass showroom. There is no video footage of the shooting. Inside the showroom, Miller ordered Taylor to get to the ground. Instead, Taylor cursed at the officer and advanced towards him. The officer fired when Taylor was about three metres (10 feet) away, the Arlington police chief, Will Johnson, said last month. Friends of Taylor said he had recently developed a zeal for his Christian faith. According to the autopsy report, he had biblical verses, an angel and a cross tattooed on his body. |