Nov. 21--Brandon Montgomery Daniel, who investigators say fatally shot Austin police officer Jaime Padron in a crime that led to an outpouring of community sympathy and support for police, will face possible death in the case.
Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg announced her decision Tuesday to ask jurors to consider whether Daniel should be executed if convicted. She declined to comment further other than to say, "I think it is the right thing to do."
Daniel, 25, who is charged with capital murder, is expected to go to trial early next year. He remains in the Travis County Jail.
Under Texas law, prosecutors have the option of seeking the death penalty in capital murder cases.
"I am comforted by the fact that a man who committed the ultimate crime, which is the capital offense of killing a police officer, faces the potential of paying the ultimate price," said Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo.
Bill White, an attorney representing Daniel, said, "Law enforcement believes that (prosecutors) should pursue the death penalty, and I can't fault them for that. The family of the deceased believes they should pursue the death penalty, and I can't fault them for that.
"But it's really the kind of case that you give to the community and let them decide," White said.
The decision to seek the death penalty -- fairly rare in Travis County -- comes nearly eight months after authorities said Daniel shot Padron in a North Austin Wal-Mart.
Investigators have said that Padron, a father of two, was responding to a call about a possible shoplifter in the store near Interstate 35 and Parmer Lane. When he arrived, he had a brief encounter with Daniel, who then fatally shot Padron in the neck, authorities said.
Police have said two Wal-Mart employees tackled Daniel, wrestled him to the ground and held him there until other officers arrived.
Later, after Daniel, a software engineer, was taken into custody, he said, "I killed a cop" while being walked through the police parking garage, according to an arrest affidavit.
Padron's death marked the first time since 2004 that an Austin officer had been killed in the line of duty -- and the first to be shot by a suspect in more than a decade. On the day of his funeral, thousands of residents lined Austin streets and Interstate 35, which was temporarily closed, for a lengthy funeral procession.
The American-Statesman reported shortly after the shooting that Daniel had been arrested at least four times since 2007 in Texas and his native Colorado. Records showed he once skirted going to jail on a drunken driving charge by slipping information to police in Colorado about a reputed dorm-room drug dealer from whom he said he was purchasing Ecstasy, a street drug that often causes euphoria.
His mother, Mary O'Dell, has told the newspaper that her son had no memory of the night of the April 6 shooting, and his roommate has said Daniel was taking Xanax.
The decision to seek the death penalty came after Lehmberg consulted with an internal panel that includes some of her top assistant prosecutors. Those prosecutors review evidence in capital murder cases after an indictment is issued and recommend whether the defendant should be punished with the death penalty if convicted.
Travis County prosecutors last sought the death penalty against a suspect in 2011. Areli Carbaja Escobar was sentenced to die for stabbing and sexually assaulting his 17-year-old neighbor, the mother of a 1-year-old, in an apartment complex in far East Austin.
On Tuesday, Padron's family couldn't be reached for comment.
However, the decision to seek the death penalty was greeted with support among many of Padron's fellow officers.
"This is cold-blooded murder of a police officer who represented the state, and this incident is a classic example as to why the Legislature intended this to be a capital offense," said Sgt. Wayne Vincent, president of the Austin Police Association.
Copyright 2012 - Austin American-Statesman
