Grand jury to take up Mike Ramos police shooting case in August

AUSTIN (KXAN) — A grand jury will take up the Mike Ramos police shooting case in August, almost four months after Ramos was killed, Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore confirmed Thursday.

The jury will be empaneled Aug. 11 and the case will be presented later in the month, Moore said. Moore has said the coronavirus pandemic had delayed the ability to convene a grand jury sooner.

Ramos was shot and killed April 24. His attorney said he was spending time with friends in the parking lot of a southeast Austin apartment complex that night. Austin police said a 911 call reported a couple was using drugs in a car and a man was waving a gun in the air. Police also said based on the description of the car that it may have been involved in a crime the previous day.

Police said when they arrived, Ramos initially got out of the car, but then yelled back at them, did not comply with their commands and that Officer Mitchell Pieper shot a beanbag round at him. Ramos got in the car and started to drive off, police said, which is when Officer Christopher Taylor shot him.

Earlier this week, some Austin City Council members questioned an unofficial agreement between the District Attorney’s office and the Austin Police Department, in which Moore’s office requested APD delay any disciplinary action for officers until her office had completed its criminal investigation. APD’s internal investigation is going on at the same time and has a 180-day window for it to be completed.

“This (grand jury) is within the 180 days, so there is no delay in the administrative proceeding caused by the grand jury proceeding,” Moore said in an email to KXAN.