HOUSTON HONORS ‘AN ABSOLUTE HERO’
SGT. CHRISTOPHER BREWSTER: 1987-2019 Thousands gather at funeral to remember fallen police sergeant as ‘a friendly help’ to those in need and ‘a leader to the end’
Soon after Christopher Brewster and Justin Hayes graduated from the Houston Police Department’s training academy in 2010, the pair chose the Southeast Division for their first patrol assignment.
On one particularly busy night, the rookies arrived at the scene of a burglary called in hours before, Hayes said. The peeved homeowner hadn’t liked waiting, and he let them know it. In the midst of the diatribe, a confused Hayes noticed Brewster wandering off. He’d seen a mango tree on the owner’s front yard and started inspecting its mottled leaves.
“The next thing I know, the homeowner is standing next to him and they’re both talking about tropical tree diseases and remedies to fix it,” Hayes recalled. “By the end of the call, Chris was making plans to return later on in the week to check on the tree, and the guy was more than calmed down. That was Chris.”
Hayes shared the memory of Brewster with thousands who gathered to remember the slain police sergeant at a funeral service at Grace Church Houston. Inside the cavernous sanctuary, a large screen showed an image of Brewster as a slide show played on two other screens,
displaying photos of the officer, his family and his friends. Two dozen floral arrangements ringed the stage above his flag-draped casket.
Brewster, 32, was fatally shot Saturday night while responding to a domestic violence call in Magnolia Park. Brewster’s slaying — he became the first Houston police officer to die in the line of duty since Sgt. Steve Perez drowned amid Hurricane Harvey’s flooding in 2017 — began a grim week for police officers and their families. A retired Houston police sergeant’s son was shot and killed that same day in Arkansas, and Nassau Bay police Sgt. Kaila Sullivan died after she was struck by a fleeing suspect following a traffic stop Tuesday night.
In addition to family — Brewster is survived by his wife of five years, Bethany, his parents, three sisters and a niece and nephews — Thursday’s funeral drew officers from the Houston Police Department, other local agencies and departments as far away as New York and California.
Brewster’s friends and colleagues remembered the nineyear veteran, a graduate of J. Frank Dobie High School and Texas A&M University-Commerce, as a devoted husband and officer with a “wonderfully weird” personality, a good sense of humor and eclectic hobbies — someone who would return from patrol to tend to his mango trees or collect bags of leaves to compost.
Making his way into the church, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said those gathered were there to “celebrate the life and memory of an absolute hero.” He praised Brewster as “a great son, a great husband, a great brother, uncle, a great friend and one hell of a cop.”
Later during the service, the chief noted that Brewster’s death fell on Dec. 7, the day the country marks the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor and remembers the “greatest generation” that fought in World War II. Brewster represented the greatest of his generation, Acevedo said.
He recalled getting the call Saturday night that Brewster had been shot. Brewster was struck multiple times after he emerged from his vehicle and tried to get the attention of the suspect, who’d been pointed out by his girlfriend. As he lay dying, he managed to radio in a description of the suspect, a final act that police leaders said helped officers identify and capture Arturo Solis, who is charged with capital murder in Brewster’s death.
“When I got to the scene, I got to see firsthand the excellence of Christopher Brewster,” Acevedo said. “How he got that (description) out, I know: his heart and the man above.”
Brewster’s actions likely saved the lives of his fellow officers and many others, he said.
“Leadership isn’t about rank. It’s not about stripes. It’s not about bars. It’s about heart. It’s about character, and it’s about what he displayed,” Acevedo said.
The chief called on officers to do their best everyday, as Brewster did, and to “be a little weird” like him.
Acevedo also said he was going to start calling out prosecutors and judges who are “putting more emphasis on the crook than on the victim.”
Earlier in the week, Acevedo took aim at Senate Republicans for not closing the so-called boyfriend loophole that allows those with a history of dating violence to legally purchase firearms, in some cases. Solis had pleaded guilty in August 2015 to a misdemeanor charge that he assaulted a woman he was dating who lived with him at the time, which should have prevented Solis from buying a gun under state and federal law.
Hayes, Brewster’s police academy classmate, said in his eulogy that Brewster made him a better cop.
Brewster slowed him down when he was impatient, pushed him when he grew complacent and calmed him when he was quick-tempered.
The pair studied for hours together before they both were promoted to sergeant, he said. Brewster was elated at the chance to mentor new officers after earning his sergeant’s stripes in February.
“He was a leader to the end, on the street with his officers every day, working closely and offering guidance and assistance whenever and wherever possible,” Hayes said.
Lifelong friend JJ Cole recalled Brewster as a “mama’s boy through and through,” who grew taller than his teacher in just the first grade and who later liked to wrestle.
Cole remembered Brewster jamming his guitar and wearing a green beanie in junior high school, and cruising around Sagemont in his old Saturn listening to indie bands. He knew how to play every Incubus song, Cole said, “which I thought was so cool.”
Those quirks were “balanced with a deep sense of curiosity about this world,” Cole said. “He loved life, and he was a lifelong learner. … He knew a lot about a lot and could talk to you about it for a long time.”
Brewster was also a faithful follower of Jesus Christ, said Cole, who told mourners “he would want you to know that his life was not built on his many accomplishments but rather a firm foundation of Jesus alone.”
Cole acknowledged that he was initially a little unsure about Brewster’s decision to become a cop.
“I just couldn’t see him arresting people,” Cole said.
Watching his friend go through HPD’s training academy, Cole realized that he had been mistaken.
“He took a lot of pride in being an officer. He had a deep reverence for what his badge meant,” he said, “and he took being an officer very seriously. And he was damn good at it.”
Brewster’s outsize personality and impact leaves “a big hole in all of the hearts that mourn him,” he said.
Mayor Sylvester Turner told the gathering that Brewster “made HPD better and made Houston safer.”
“We’re here not to honor the way he died, we’re here to honor the way he served and the way he lived,” Turner said, proclaiming Dec. 12, 2019, as “Sgt. Christopher Brewster Day.”
The mayor said he spoke with Brewster’s wife before the ceremony about the many fruit trees he enjoyed planting — mango, pomegranate, peach, pear, apples and more.
“Fruit trees provide a lot of shade, roots run deep and hold the land together, and they provide sustenance,” Turner said — not unlike Brewster himself.
Pastor Russell Cravens urged officers not to ignore the pain of Brewster’s death.
He said Brewster acted with love “in a way he has done his entire life, by offering himself as a friendly help to someone in need. What he did on Saturday he has done in some form ever since I’ve known him — stepped in, stepped up, helped out.”
The service ended at about noon. Mourners filed outside, past a Houston Fire Department ladder truck hoisting high a massive American flag.
There, the department offered Brewster full honors, including the traditional helicopter fly-over in a “lost-man” formation, a riderless horse, a 21-gun salute and the playing of “Taps.” Acevedo, Turner and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick each presented flags to a somber Bethany Brewster, dressed in a dark overcoat.
Just after 12:15 p.m., police performed a final radio call.
“Sgt. Christopher Brewster is officially off duty. Godspeed, Sgt. Brewster. We have the watch from here.”