Lawyer: Officer who fatally shot Texas woman knew she was mentally ill

BAYTOWN, Texas — A lawyer for the family of a woman who was fatally shot by a Houston-area police officer says the officer lived in the same apartment complex as her and knew she suffered from mental illness.

Attorney Ben Crump says Pamela Turner had struggled with paranoid schizophrenia since her diagnosis in 2005, and may have been in crisis the night she was killed.

Baytown police have said an officer shot the 44-year-old African American woman Monday during an attempted arrest, and that she shocked him with his Taser during a struggle.

At a Thursday press conference, Crump and Turner's family portrayed the officer as the aggressor.

Turner's daughter, Chelsie Rubin, said she asked a Baytown police officer if the department was aware of her mother's illness and he confirmed they were.