Ex-officer is sent to mental facility for shooting death of deputy brother

CONROE — A former Montgomery County police officer is being committed to a mental health facility after pleading not guilty by reason of insanity Tuesday in the 2018 shooting death of his brother, a Harris County sheriff ’s deputy.

Robert Eugene Lee, 60, was a Stagecoach Police Department officer when on May 25 he killed 57-year-old Rocky Lee, a 26-year veteran with the sheriff ’s office.

In Conroe’s 221st District Court, Robert Lee waived his right to a jury trial, stipulating he intentionally or knowingly caused his brother’s death, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Robert Lee initially claimed he shot someone breaking into his Stagecoach Farms home, south of Magnolia. Investigators with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas Rangers soon realized it was not a break-in and arrested Robert Lee for taking multiple shots at Rocky Lee.

Rocky Lee was checking in on Robert Lee, who was on medical leave, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Kelly Blackburn and defense attorney Roger Bridgewater presented evidence of severe mental disease or defect to show Robert Lee was unaware he was doing wrong at the time, according to the DA’s Office.

Blackburn and Bridgewater requested murder charges be dismissed, and presiding Judge Lisa Michalk found Robert Lee not guilty. He will undergo evaluation and treatment at a state health agency-designated facility and will be under continued court and state supervision, the DA’s Office stated.

“Robert Lee must live with the knowledge that he was responsible for his brother’s death,” Blackburn said in a statement. “We have faith in the medical professionals who evaluated Lee, and based upon those evaluations and all of the facts and circumstances surrounding the shooting, we trust that this was the right thing to do.”

At the time of the shooting, Robert Lee had 35 years law enforcement experience. Because Rocky Lee was not in an official capacity when he was killed, Robert Lee never faced capital murder charges as usually occurs in the killing of a law enforcement officer.

Robert Lee could be heard on police scanner audio telling police he fired shots at a “young man.”

“I’m a police sergeant with the city of Stagecoach,” he said. “This man has broken into my house, and I have fired five rounds into him and I cannot locate him at this time.”

“Robert Lee must live with the knowledge that he was responsible for his brother’s death.” Prosecuting Assistant District Attorney Kelly Blackburn