*IN THE LINE OF DUTY* OFFICER DOWN

[HairOfTheDog]

TEXAS


Shannon J. Miles (left) was arrested and charged with yesterday's killing of Darren Goforth (right), 47, a 10-year veteran of the force. RIP Deputy Goforth.

Goforth leaves behind a wife and two children.

The deputy had gone to the Chevron gas station in Cypress, a middle-class to upper middle-class suburban area of Harris County that is unincorporated and located northwest of Houston, after responding to a routine car accident earlier Friday. While he was pumping gas, he was shot multiple times from behind.

Prosecutors on Saturday charged 30-year-old Miles with capital murder.

Sheriff Ron Hickman said the motive for the killing had not been determined but investigators would look at whether Miles, who is black, was motivated by anger over recent killings elsewhere of black men by police that have spawned the "Black Lives Matter" protest movement.

"I think that's something that we have to keep an eye on," Hickman said. "The general climate of that kind of rhetoric can be influential on people to do things like this. We're still searching to find out if that's actually a motive."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/susp...a96339409c

This case has taken a couple of weird twists.

A female witness at the gas station is alleged to have been in Officer Goforth's vehicle when he was shot. She told investigators that she'd been involved in a 15 month affair with the slain officer. Goforth's wife says that he would never have an affair.

The suspect's defense attorney is pushing to have the murder charges downgraded because he claims that Goforth was on a date with his lover when he was gunned down at the gas station. So, since Goforth was not shot "in the line of duty", his client should not be facing capital murder charges.

One of the lead investigators on the case interviewed the woman/witness/alleged mistress. Well, he ended up sleeping with her. Idiot; compromising the case even further. Anyway, Sheriff Hickman promptly suspended the investigator this week, telling the press that his investigator's actions don't reflect the principles of the department.

Story: http://www.khou.com/story/news/crime/201.../73681698/