Texas football player shot by police had drugs in system, autopsy says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}FILE: This undated file photo provided by Angelo State University shows Christian Taylor. (Angelo State University via AP, File)
A black college football player killed by a white police officer likely used a synthetic psychedelic drug and marijuana prior to the deadly confrontation at a Texas car dealership, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday.
Christian Taylor was unarmed when Arlington police officer Brad Miller shot him on Aug. 7. Miller has been fired.
The report shows there was THC, one of the active components of marijuana, and a synthetic drug that causes hallucinations in his system.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The autopsy also showed Taylor was shot four times, in the neck, torso and abdomen.
The 6-foot-tall, 19-year-old attended Angelo State University in San Angelo in 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, according to spokeswoman Samantha Jordan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Miller's attorney John Snider said he hoped that in light of 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 itself.
Inside the showroom, Miller ordered Taylor to get to the ground. Instead, Taylor cursed at the officer and advanced toward him. The officer fired when Taylor was about 10 feet away, Arlington police chief Will Johnson said in a news conference last month.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}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.