Defense attorney Brad Heilman speaks to the jury during opening arguments in the trial of Austin Police Officer Daniel Sanchez, who is accused of deadly conduct in the fatal 2022 shooting of tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center, Nov. 6, 2025.
Sara Diggins/Austin American-Statesman
Loved ones await a verdict during Daniel Sanchez’s trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Sanchez is charged with felony deadly conduct in the 2022 shooting death of tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe outside Moonesinghe’s Bouldin Creek home.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Daniel Sanchez awaits a verdict during his trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Sanchez is charged with felony deadly conduct in the 2022 shooting death of tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe outside Moonesinghe’s Bouldin Creek home.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Attorney Doug O’Connell speaks during a press conference outside Daniel Sanchez’s trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Sanchez is charged with felony deadly conduct in the 2022 shooting death of tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe outside Moonesinghe’s Bouldin Creek home.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
The felony deadly conduct trial of Austin police officer Daniel Sanchez ended Monday in a deadlocked jury.
The decision came after 12 hours of deliberations and a nine-day trial centered on the question of whether Sanchez was justified in opening fire on 33-year-old tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe outside his Bouldin Creek duplex in November 2022.
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Daniel Sanchez awaits a verdict during his trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Sanchez is charged with felony deadly conduct in the 2022 shooting death of tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe outside Moonesinghe’s Bouldin Creek home.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Prior to declaring a mistrial, state District Court Judge Karen Sage announced the jury had been “evenly split” since it began deliberating on Friday. She then asked each juror individually if having more time to deliberate would help the panel reach a verdict. All 12 jurors answered no.
Sanchez sat in silence as Sage thanked jurors for their service and then dismissed them. The officer and his family left the courtroom through a back exit and did not speak to media.
Moonesinghe’s mother, Ruth Moonesinghe, told the American-Statesman she was disappointed in the outcome but declined further comment. During the trial, she offered emotional testimony from the witness stand about her son’s life and career.
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Prosecutors with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office must now decide whether to seek a new trial or attempt to resolve the case another way.
“Our hearts continue to go out to the Moonesinghe family, who have waited so long for justice,” said District Attorney José Garza said in a statement, adding that, “The judge will reset the case to a future date.”
Judge Karen Sage addresses the courtroom during Daniel Sanchez’s trial at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin, Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. Sanchez is charged with felony deadly conduct in the 2022 shooting death of tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe outside Moonesinghe’s Bouldin Creek home.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Sanchez’s defense attorney, Brad Heilman, declined comment. He referred the Statesman to the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, a statewide police union that facilitated Sanchez’s defense at trial.
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“José Garza and his team have failed to put forward any set of facts that Officer Sanchez was doing anything other than what he was trained to do and what is lawful under Texas law,” CLEAT Executive Director Robert Leonard said.
The mistrial comes two years after a different jury deadlocked in the murder trial of former Austin police officer Christopher Taylor, who was charged in the 2020 on-duty fatal shooting of Michael Ramos. Prosecutors dropped that case last year after they failed to secure a new indictment on additional charges but they went on to secure a historic deadly conduct conviction against Taylor in connection to another fatal on-duty shooting.
The circumstances of each case vary, but they all involved a police officer fatally shooting a civilian after responding to a 911 call.
When Sanchez arrived at Moonesinghe’s home shortly after midnight, he heard two rifle shots before making visual contact with Moonesinghe who was standing on his front porch holding an AR-15 rifle in a “low ready position.”
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Ruth Moonesinghe, mother of Rajan Moonesinghe, arrives at the trial of Austin police officer Daniel Sanchez at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. Sanchez is charged with felony deadly conduct in the 2022 shooting death of tech entrepreneur Rajan Moonesinghe outside his Bouldin Creek home.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Defense attorneys argued that Sanchez reasonably believed he was responding to an active shooter situation.. They said his split-second decision to shoot was consistent with police training that directs officers to treat armed individuals who have recently fired a weapon as an immediate threat.
Prosecutors emphasized that Sanchez never identified himself as a police officer and began firing less than a second after ordering Moonesinghe to drop his gun. Because Moonesinghe had his rifle pointed toward the ground, prosecutors said, he did not represent a threat that justified deadly force.
Jurors heard seven days of testimony before beginning deliberations late last week.
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They informed Sage, the judge, of the deadlock earlier Monday. Sage then instructed them to continue deliberating, reminding them that a hung jury could lead to a new trial where another panel would be presented with the same evidence.
They deliberated for several more hours but did not reach a verdict.