Brandon Daniel gets death sentence for killing Austin police officer Jaime Padron

For the past two weeks, Brandon Daniel has been called a calculating, remorseless killer by the state, and a brilliant, depression-wracked computer scientist by his lawyers.

After more than eight hours of deliberations, a Travis County jury weighing his fate sided with the prosecution late Friday and decided the former 26-year-old software engineer should die for the killing of Austin police officer Jaime Padron.

More than 50 people filled the courtroom to hear the final decision. Family and supporters from both sides of the case, some of whom had sat through the capital murder trial every day since its start last week, wept as the verdict was read. Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo sat in the audience for the first time, along with a strong presence of law enforcement officers, some in uniforms, others in suits.

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In jarring testimony, employees said they saw Daniel shoot the officer as the two scuffled on the floor of a North Austin Wal-Mart. Padron, a retired Marine and father of two young girls, had responded to a call about a possible shoplifter at the store near Interstate 35 and Parmer Lane.

Security cameras captured Daniel wandering the aisles in a dark hoodie and black backpack. He stumbled and swayed, at times dropping his groceries. Dash cam footage, later recorded, showed him in the back of a police cruiser, slurring his words as he taunted the officers in front of him and made spiteful comments about his deadly encounter with Padron.

The remainder of this story is behind the paywall at http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/crime-law/no-verdict-yet-reached-in-brandon-daniel-capital-m/nd3rG/?icmp=statesman_internallink_invitationbox_apr2013_statesmanstubtomystatesmanpremium . There are several other articles and video that was shown at the trial that are posted on the Austin American-Statesman.