Let us not forget Deputy Sheriff Darren Goforth of Harris
County Sheriff's Office, Texas, was killed in
the line of duty on August 28, 2015. We will also remember him on his
birthdate, June 19 every year. Let us honor this fallen policeman by
remembering how he lived on this earth and treasure his memories.
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Deputy Sheriff Darren Goforth
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INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.odmp.org/officer/22579-deputy-sheriff-darren-h-goforth
Deputy
Sheriff
Darren H.
Goforth
Harris County
Sheriff's Office, Texas
End of Watch: Friday, August 28, 2015
Bio &
Incident Details
Age: 47
Tour: 10 years
Badge # 1984
Cause: Gunfire
Weapon: Handgun
Offender: Charged with capital murder
Deputy Sheriff Darren Goforth was shot
and killed from ambush while pumping gas into his patrol car at a commercial
gas station at the intersection of West and Telge Roads, in Cypress.
Deputy Goforth was on patrol and had completed an assignment at the scene of a vehicle collision. He went to a local gas station to fuel his patrol car. As Deputy Goforth stood next to his patrol car filling it with fuel, a male subject walked up behind him and fired multiple shots. After Deputy Goforth fell to the ground, the subject shot him several more times before fleeing the scene in a pickup truck.
Deputy Goforth was on patrol and had completed an assignment at the scene of a vehicle collision. He went to a local gas station to fuel his patrol car. As Deputy Goforth stood next to his patrol car filling it with fuel, a male subject walked up behind him and fired multiple shots. After Deputy Goforth fell to the ground, the subject shot him several more times before fleeing the scene in a pickup truck.
The subject was apprehended the next day following a massive manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies from around the Harris County and Houston area. He was charged with capital murder.
On February 9th, 2016, the subject was found incompetent. He was ordered to receive treatment at a state hospital for 120 days to restore his competency for trial.
Deputy Goforth had served with the Harris County Sheriff's Office for 10 years. He is survived by his wife and two children, ages 5 and 12.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Darren_Goforth
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Shooting of Darren Goforth
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Time
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c. 8:20
p.m.
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Date
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August 28, 2015
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Location
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Cypress,
Texas, U.S.
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Participants
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Darren
Goforth, Shannon J. Miles
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Casualties
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Darren
Goforth
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Deaths
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1
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Suspect(s)
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Shannon
J. Miles
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Charges
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Capital
murder
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Darren H. Goforth (c. 1968 – August 28,
2015) was 47 years old when he was killed. He was a ten-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
Goforth was married to a woman named Kathleen, and he had two children, aged
five and twelve at the time of his death.
Shannon Miles
Shannon J. Miles was a native of
Cypress, who lived about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) from the crime scene. Miles
attended the Prairie View A&M University
from fall 2003 to spring 2004 and the University of Houston in 2011 or 2012. He had
an arrest record dating back to 2005. It consisted mostly of minor misdemeanor
arrests, including resisting arrest, criminal mischief, trespassing, evading
detention, and disorderly conduct with a firearm. Two of his arrests involved
him using force against the arresting officers. According to his mother and one
of his defense attorneys, Miles had a lifelong history of mental illness.
In 2012, Miles was charged with
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to an incident in which
he attacked a man at an Austin homeless shelter over control of a television
remote. He was found mentally incompetent to stand trial and was sent to North Texas State Hospital for six
months, after which a second evaluation found him to be mentally competent.
However, the charge was dropped after authorities could not find the assault
victim.
Shooting
At approximately 8:30 p.m.,
Goforth pulled into a Chevron gas station at the intersection of West
Road and Telge Road in Cypress, a town about 25 miles from downtown
Houston. While he was filling up his car with gas, a black male in a red Ford
Ranger walked up behind him and shot him repeatedly in the back of the
head. The man then walked towards Goforth and shot him several more times in
the back and head. The gunman fired a total of fifteen shots, emptying his
firearm and killing Goforth. The attack appeared to be completely unprovoked.
The gun used to murder Goforth was described as a large handgun.
Arrest and legal proceedings
The next morning, Miles was brought in
for questioning as a person of interest after investigators linked
his car to the one driven by the killer. He was arrested and charged with
capital murder after a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber
handgun discovered in a baseball bag in Miles's garage was confirmed through ballistics
tests to be the same one used to kill Goforth. Several items were seized from
the home by police, including clothes matching the ones said to be worn by the
shooter and 34 live rounds of ammunition. Authorities do not believe anyone
else was involved in the killing. The ongoing investigation has been marred by police
and judicial misconduct. Harris County Deputy Craig Clopton was fired on
October 24, 2015, for inappropriate sexual misconduct toward a witness in the
case; Presiding Judge Denise Collins recused herself for undisclosed reasons;
and if Deputy Goforth was at the gas station to meet his mistress—instead of
for the purpose of fueling his patrol car, which would have been official
business—then the death penalty could be taken off the table for the suspect.
On February 10, 2016, the Harris
County Sheriff's Office fired another deputy, Marc De Leon, involved in the
investigation. Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said that De Leon was fired
for being untruthful to investigators, but some Houston media outlets are
reporting that De Leon also had a consensual sexual relationship with the
witness. The Houston Chronicle reported on February 10 that a third HCSO
deputy is also under investigation for having a sexual relationship with the
same witness.
Miles was charged with capital murder
and held without bond. He is expected to plead not guilty to the charge. His
mother claimed that her son had been shopping with her at the time of the
shooting.
Aftermath
Reactions
Texas Governor Greg
Abbott declared in a statement that "heinous and deliberate crimes
against law enforcement" would not be tolerated. Harris County district
attorney Devon Anderson said she felt it was time for the silent
majority to come out and support law enforcement. She also said,
"There are a few bad apples in every profession, that does not mean that
there should be open warfare declared on law enforcement." Harris County
Sheriff Ron Hickman denounced the shooting as "senseless and
cowardly" and stated that while investigators were not aware of a motive
at the moment, it appeared that Goforth was targeted "because he wore a
uniform."
The shooting drew comparisons to the shooting deaths of two officers
with the New York City Police Department,
which occurred the year before. The shooting also brought criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement, alleging that they
were responsible for inspiring the attack. Hickman stated, "We've heard
'black lives matter.' All lives matter. Well, cops' lives matter, too. So why
don't we just drop the qualifier and just say 'lives matter,' and take that to
the bank."
Texas State Representative Garnet
Coleman (D) criticized Hickman and
Anderson for "politicizing a death that, I don't know that anyone knows
what was in the mind of the shooter." Activist DeRay
Mckesson tweeted
that it was "sad that some have chosen to politicize this tragedy by
falsely attributing the officer's death to a movement seeking to end
violence."
In the aftermath of the shooting, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz
stated that U.S. President Barack
Obama and officials in the Obama administration had partial moral
responsibility for Goforth's death. Cruz blamed what he labeled as efforts to
"vilify law enforcement" and stated that Obama had remained
"silent" on the murder. Cruz's comments brought criticism from
commentators in progressive publications such as Mother Jones and The Texas Observer, while conservative
publications such as Right Wing News expressed support for
Cruz.
Despite the accusations of being
"silent" on the murder, President Obama made an official statement to
the family and Houston community:
This afternoon, on my way to Alaska, I called Kathleen Goforth, the widow of Harris County Deputy Sheriff Darren Goforth – a veteran law enforcement officer who was contemptibly shot and killed over the weekend. On behalf of the American people, I offered Mrs. Goforth my condolences, and told her that Michelle and I would keep her and her family in our prayers. I also promised that I would continue to highlight the uncommon bravery that police officers show in our communities every single day. They put their lives on the line for our safety. Targeting police officers is completely unacceptable – an affront to civilized society. As I said in my State of the Union Address, we’ve got to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of the wife who won’t rest until the police officer she married walks through the door at the end of his shift. That comfort has been taken from Mrs. Goforth. So we must offer her our comfort – and continue to stand up for the safety of police officers wherever they serve.
Funeral
service
On September 4, a funeral service for
Goforth took place at the Second Baptist Church Houston.
Thousands of mourners were in attendance, including police officers and other
law enforcement personnel from various parts of the U.S. Flags in Texas were flown
at half-staff.
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