Officer fired amid death of sergeant

Houston police have fired an officer accused of running away from gunfire during a domestic dispute call that ended with the death of veteran Sgt. Harold Preston.

Vanessa Taylor and another officer, Courtney Waller, responded to a call in south Houston in October 2020, along with Preston.

The call was to accompany a woman to her estranged husband’s apartment to collect her belongings. It quickly went awry when the husband began shooting at officers, striking Waller and Preston.

The sergeant returned fire, striking Elmer Manzano, the man police say was the shooter. Taylor ran from the scene, multiple

sources said. At some point in the altercation, Manzano shot Preston for a second time, striking him in the back of the head.

Manzano has since been charged with capital murder.

An HPD spokesman confirmed Friday that Taylor had been indefinitely suspended (the term used by the department for firing).

Houston Police Officers’ Union President Douglas Griffith said that because Taylor was punished for something that occurred during the line of duty, she would be receiving union representation. Griffith declined to comment on the specific accusations against Taylor, saying he had not yet seen her disciplinary paperwork.

“It’s my understanding she will be fighting the indefinite suspension,” he said. “We’re waiting to find out what happens in arbitration.”

Preston’s death came during a particularly tragic period in late 2020 for local law enforcement. Less than a week before Preston was killed, a Houston Fire Department arson investigator, Lemuel Bruce, was murdered investigating a spate of suspicious fires. And then in early November, HPD Sgt. Sean Rios was shot and killed on his way to work.

Former Police Chief Art Acevedo — who has since moved to Florida to lead the Miami Police Department — said he handed down the discipline after the case worked its way through the department’s disciplinary system.

“One of the reasons I wanted to stay as long as I did was to make sure that case was taken care of,” he said. “It happened under my watch.”

Taylor joined the department in 2015, according to department records. The discipline against her is the latest fallout from the events leading up to the fatal encounter Preston’s death. Waller — who was shot in the arm — was disciplined for 20 days. And a sergeant who responded to another domestic dispute call at Manzano’s home the day before the fatal incident received a five-day suspension, Griffith confirmed.