Suspect in deputy murder had mental illness
Spent several months in Texas psychiatric hospital
HOUSTON — The man accused of shooting and killing a suburban Houston officer has a history of mental illness and once lived in a homeless shelter, authorities said Monday.
Harris County Sheriff’s Deputy Darren Goforth was ambushed and shot 15 times, District Atty. Devon Anderson said in a court hearing for Shannon J. Miles, who is charged with capital murder.
Miles, a 30-year-old Houston resident who said little in court, is being held without bond. His criminal history dates back to 2005 and includes an arrest in Austin in 2012 that led to Miles being sent to a state mental hospital for several months.
Anderson said investigators were still trying to figure out a motive. Anderson said she had “no idea” if the shooting might be connected to heightened tensions around the country between law enforcement and civilians.
This weekend, Sheriff Ron Hickman said the attack was “clearly unprovoked,” that authorities believe the 47-year-old deputy was targeted because he was in uniform and there is no evidence Goforth knew Miles. Hickman linked the killing to heightened tension over the treatment of African-Americans by police. Goforth was white and Miles is black.
Anthony Osso, one of Miles’ two court-appointed attorneys, said his client intends to plead not guilty.
In 2012, the Travis County authorities charged Miles with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon after he got into a fight at a homeless shelter over a remote control, prosecutor Joe Frederick said. Miles was found to be mentally incompetent in October 2012 and he was sent to North Texas State Hospital in Vernon, Texas.
“From this case, you could never tell what would happen” in the future, Frederick said, adding prosecutors treated the case as a “very serious offense” and had offered Miles a plea agreement of seven years in prison. Miles was declared mentally competent in February 2013, but the charge was dropped after the victim could not be located, Frederick said.
Jon Evans, Miles’ attorney in the Austin case, said medical privacy laws prevent him from offering any details about Miles’ mental illness history. But he was told by Miles’ mother that her son had a lifelong history of mental illness.
In court Monday, Anderson read the probable cause statement, which said police first received a call at 8:20 p.m. Friday. Responding officers found Goforth’s body facedown at the gas station in the Houston suburb of Cypress.
Surveillance video from the gas station showed Goforth had just come out of a convenience store when Miles got out of his red truck, she said. “He runs up behind Deputy Goforth and puts the gun to the back of his head and shoots. Deputy Goforth hits the ground and then he continues to unload his gun, shooting repeatedly into the back of Deputy Goforth,” Anderson said.