Pictured above: Shannon J. Miles, now being charged with murdering Deputy Goforth (left), and Sheriff Ron Hickman (right)
(TEXAS) Texas’s Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman told reporters in August his department would investigate the “Black Lives Matter” movement as an impetus for the murder of a deputy, according to reports.
Deputy Darren Goforth, 10-year veteran of law enforcement, was murdered in what Sheriff Hickman called a “cold-blooded assassination,” reports Associated Press.
Sheriff Hickman identified Shannon J. Miles, a black man, in the murder of Deputy Goforth.
Hickman referred to social media, saying “dangerous rhetoric” against law enforcement had “gotten out of control.”
“Cops’ lives matter, too,” Hickman said, and added “So why don’t we drop the qualifier and say lives matter.”
In the weeks following Deputy Goforth, however, news emerged that the only witness to the crime was Goforth’s mistress who was also having an affair with two other deputies in the department.
Sgt. Craig Clopton, a homicide detective in the department, admitted to an affair with the witness.
Sgt. Craig Clopton was promptly dismissed from the department.
Then, Deputy Marc DeLeon was also dismissed from the department for lying about having an affair with the same witness.
Currently, a third deputy is being investigated for also having an affair with the only witness to the murder.
“Given that some of these people were from a variety of different places in the department, certainly you have to wonder if that’s the end,” the Sheriff Hickman told reporters.
“When we have a relationship with a citizen about an investigation, we need to treat that like a doctor-patient relationship and conduct ourselves in such a manner as above reproach. While you wouldn’t think you’d have to say that – that it’s a bad thing to sleep with witnesses – apparently in this day and age you have to spell it out,” Sheriff Hickman added.
No specific evidence has emerged as to what might have motivated Shannon J. Miles for allegedly murdering Deputy Goforth, according to reports.
However, Sheriff Hickman stands by his belief that Deputy Goforth was murdered solely because he was in uniform.
This is concerning given that a man’s life is on the line for allegedly murdering an officer.
“At the press conference, I drew a conclusion based on the absence of any other information,” he said. “I stand by that.”
Shannon J. Miles, now being charged with murdering Deputy Goforth, is being placed in a mental health institute after being found “incompetent” to stand trial.
There are no known connections between Miles and Deputy Goforth, according to authorities.
Authorities report concerns about Miles’s safety in jail given that Miles is being charged with murdering a police officer.
