Precinct 5 deputy was ‘the very best’

A Harris County Constable’s Office Precinct 5 deputy died of COVID-19 after a two-month battle with the virus.

Mark Brown, 53, died at around 11 p.m. Saturday at his home after spending about two months in intensive care at a hospital, his wife said. He was allowed to return to their home Friday, she said.

“The kindest, most gentle, and giving man that I was privileged to call my husband was called home to be with our Heavenly Father,” the deputy’s wife, Michelle Brown, said in a GoFundMe post. “Mark Brown, I am so honored and lucky to spend 24 years with you by my side.”

Her last post in the fundraiser was a photo of her kissing Brown after he returned from the hospital.

She detailed how the virus had impacted their family, including herself and their oldest son — all of whom tested positive. She said the three of them began feeling unwell in mid-May.

“I never developed a cough, even though I was short of breath,” she said. “Mark, on the other hand, has experienced every symptom known and his breathing issues have become critical.”

Brown was hospitalized twice, the second time after his symptoms took a turn for the worst.

In May, she lauded her husband

as “my constant, my rock, my official bug killer, my life partner, and the father of our four children.”

Brown, a Houston native, worked 23 years as a law enforcement officer in Hempstead and for Spring Branch ISD. He joined the constable’s office in 2017 and was most recently an investigative

deputy in the Special Operations Division.

“Mark Brown represented the very best of Precinct 5,” Constable Ted Heap said in a statement. “Whether he was on patrol or investigating an unsolved case, he was a dedicated and hard-working deputy who sought only to protect our residents and see that justice was served.”

Brown is survived by his wife, Michelle, and their four children,

Christopher, Isabella, Abigail and Jacob. Funeral arrangements are being finalized.

The global contagion has impacted first responders. Jeff McShan, spokesman for the constable’s office, said Brown is among 20 deputies who have tested positive for the virus since March 11. Three of those deputies are quarantining without symptoms, he said .

The Houston Police Department

has reported no COVID-19related deaths, but more than 375 of their officers have contracted the virus since March. Two deputies — Juan Menchaca and Raymond Scholwinski — with the Harris County Sheriff ’s Office died in June.

Last week, Leroy Lucio of the Houston Fire Department died at a San Antonio hospital.