Miles Hall

Miles Hall, 23, who had schizophrenia, was shot four times and killed by Walnut Creek, California Police Officers KC Hsiao and Melissa Murphy on June 2, 2019, during a mental health crisis near his home. His mother, Taun Hall, had called and left a voicemail with a Walnut Creek officer the day before, warning that her son was having "another episode" and asking them to be prepared. When officers responded to reports Hall was carrying a nearly 5-foot steel digging tool and had chased a vehicle on foot, they deployed a beanbag shotgun first; when that failed to stop him, Hsiao and Murphy shot him. The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office announced in May 2021, nearly two years later, that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute either officer. No one has ever been charged in Hall's death.

Walnut Creek, CA · Contra Costa County

• 2019: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• Taun Hall's voicemail to a Walnut Creek police officer the day before the shooting, warning that her son was experiencing another mental health episode, per a transcript reported by local media.
• Witnesses reported Hall was carrying a nearly 5-foot-long steel digging tool and had chased at least one vehicle on foot before officers arrived and staged roughly ten minutes later.
• Officers first deployed a beanbag shotgun, which did not stop Hall; Officers Hsiao and Murphy then shot him a combined four times.
• Contra Costa County District Attorney Diana Becton's office announced on May 7, 2021 that there was insufficient evidence to prosecute either officer, citing the officers' self-defense claim and danger to the surrounding neighborhood.
• In September 2021, the City of Walnut Creek approved a $4 million settlement with Hall's family in a related civil rights lawsuit; the family used part of the settlement to establish the Miles Hall Foundation, focused on reforming law enforcement responses to mental health crises.
• Following the shooting, Walnut Creek expanded funding for mobile mental health crisis units as an alternative to police response for such calls.

• Whether officers had, as Hall's mother stated, arrived with an established plan for de-escalating a mental health crisis specific to her son, and whether that plan was followed, was disputed by the family's attorney and never resolved by any criminal proceeding.
• Whether nonlethal options beyond the single beanbag shotgun deployment were reasonably available before officers resorted to gunfire has been disputed by the family but was not independently tested at trial.
• Why the district attorney's charging decision took nearly two years to reach has not been fully explained in public reporting.

• CNN — “No charges in fatal police shooting of mentally ill Black man, district attorney says”
• KTVU FOX 2 — “DA won't charge Walnut Creek officers in fatal shooting of Miles Hall; civil rights attorneys ask AG for help”
• SFBay — “Walnut Creek officers will not be charged in death of Miles Hall”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs