AUSTIN (KXAN) — The trial for APD Officer Daniel Sanchez, who faces a deadly conduct charge related to a 2022 deadly shooting in south Austin, began with opening statements Thursday morning.
Sanchez shot and killed 33-year-old Rajan Moonesinghe while responding to a 911 call about Moonesinghe walking around his house with a rifle.
In December of 2023, a grand jury indicted Sanchez on a deadly conduct charge in connection with the shooting.
Moonesinghe was a tech entrepreneur in Austin. His mother, Ruth, described him as “the best of all of us.”
What happened the night of the shooting?
APD said when officers arrived on South Third Street, they heard gunshots while still in their patrol vehicle.
“Both arriving officers then drove past the residence. The two officers exited their vehicles and sought cover while Mr. Moonesinghe, who was standing on the porch, continued firing a rifle,” APD said.
Officers gave commands to drop the gun, and Sanchez shot him right afterwards.
You can view police body camera video of that shooting here.
APD previously said Sanchez acted in accordance with his training and that the department “will continue to support” him.
Attorneys’ arguments
During opening statements, prosecutor Rob Drummond opened by saying Moonesinghe’s last words were “it wasn’t me,” and that he was never either under arrest or in the process of trying to harm anyone when Sanchez shot him.
Drummond also said Sanchez fired his first shot within one-tenth of a second of telling Moonesinghe to drop the gun. The State said after the first round of three shots were fired, Moonesinghe fell, stepped back from the rifle and put his hands up.
Sanchez’s attorney, Brad Heilman, opened by saying officers have a difficult job and are often faced with dangerous situations. Regarding this shooting, Heilman stated Sanchez perceived a deadly threat and acted in accordance with his training.
The Defense revealed an autopsy report showed Moonesinghe had cocaine in his system and his blood alcohol level was at .33.
“That’s a dangerous situation,” he said.
Expert witness for State calls shooting ‘unlawful’ and ‘tragic mistake’
Chuck Joyner, a former CIA and FBI agent, was the first witness to take the stand Thursday. The State hired him as an expert witness.
The State used maps, documents, bodycam video and surveillance video to have Joyner walk the jury through what happened the night of the shooting.
Joyner noted Sanchez did not identify himself as “Austin Police” before telling Moonesinghe to drop the gun and testified he did not believe Sanchez gave enough time for Moonesinghe to comply with commands before Sanchez shot him.
“I think Officer Sanchez panicked and made a tragic mistake,” Joyner said. He stated multiple times that there was no sign Moonesinghe was going to hurt officers.
When Heilman questioned Joyner, they both established a rifle could move from someone’s side to ready position within a second.
The Defense asked Joyner if the only time an officer could justifiably shoot someone was if an individual was either pointing a gun at or shooting at an officer. Joyner said “no.” They then discussed how officers are trained in “action-reaction.” This is a method where officers need to not only assess the current actions, but actions that could imminently occur.
Moonesinghe’s neighbor, 911 caller testify
The second witness Thursday was Melody Bing, who lived next door to Moonesinghe. She spoke with him shortly before the shooting.
She teared up as prosecutors asked her to recall the night this happened, and said she and Moonesinghe were neighborly and he “was a really nice kid.”
The State played additional surveillance video that shows the two of them speaking before police arrived. You can see Moonesinghe with his rifle pointing at his door and telling Bing he believes someone is in his house. Bing told him to call police, and Moonesinghe said he hasn’t because he has his gun, but that he needed to.
“I wasn’t afraid,” Bing said when prosecutors asked how she felt seeing Moonesinghe with the rifle.
Bing told defense attorneys “that didn’t sound like the Raj that I knew,” and she believed he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Kevin Hall was next to testify. He was working security in the neighborhood for something completely unrelated to Moonesinghe. Hall said Moonesinghe approached him to ask if he has seen anyone around his house, to which Hall replied “no.”
Hall said he called 911 when he saw Moonesinghe come back outside of the house and point the gun down the street. Hall believed the gun was pointed “directly at someone’s house.” He stayed on the phone with officers until after police fired.
Hall told the court he could see Moonesinghe as everything unfolded, and saw him look toward the officers as they arrived, believing he did so “to see if they would help him.” He said he did not believe Moonesinghe was going to hurt anyone. He did say he believed Moonesinghe was potentially attempting to harm someone or something inside his home.
The final person to testify was an APD sergeant. Testimony will resume with him Friday.
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