Police probe motive in deputy's killing

HOUSTON -- The man charged with capital murder in the fatal shooting of a uniformed suburban Houston sheriff's deputy had a criminal record going back a decade but never spent more than short stints in jail.

Shannon J. Miles, whose criminal record includes convictions for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct with a firearm, was to be arraigned today in the shooting of Darren Goforth, a 10-year veteran of the Harris County Sheriff's Office. Miles' arrest Saturday came fewer than 24 hours after authorities said he ambushed Goforth at a suburban Houston Chevron station.

Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman said the attack was "clearly unprovoked," and there is no evidence Goforth knew Miles. Investigators have no information from Miles that would shed light on his motive, Hickman said.

"Our assumption is that he was a target because he wore a uniform," the sheriff said.

Miles' criminal record begins in 2005, when he was convicted of criminal mischief, giving false information to police and resisting arrest, according to records. In 2006, he was convicted of disorderly conduct with a firearm and sentenced to a maximum of 15 days in jail. He was convicted of evading arrest in 2007, and his most recent conviction came in 2009 for resisting arrest.

Darren Goforth

Records show the 30-year-old Houston resident was sentenced to short stints in jail, from six to 10 days.

Court and jail records did not list an attorney for Miles, and attempts Sunday to reach family members were unsuccessful.

Goforth, 47, was pumping gas at a Chevron station Friday night in Cypress, a middle- to upper-middle-class suburban area of Harris County northwest of Houston, when the gunman approached him from behind and fired shots, continuing to fire after the deputy had fallen to the ground.

The killing evoked strong emotions in the local law-enforcement community, with Hickman linking it to heightened tension over the treatment of African-Americans by police. Goforth was white, and Miles is black.

The nationwide "Black Lives Matter" movement that formed after unarmed 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, has sought sweeping reforms of policing. Protests also erupted in Texas recently after a 28-year-old Chicago-area black woman, Sandra Bland, was found dead in a county jail about 50 miles northwest of Houston three days after her arrest on a traffic violation. It was ruled a suiciide, but family members remain skeptical.

Hickman pushed back against criticism of police.

"We've heard Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter. Well, cops' lives matter, too," Hickman said Saturday.

Deray McKesson, a leader in the Black Lives Matter movement, told the Houston Chronicle: "It is unfortunate that Sheriff Hickman has chosen to politicize this tragedy and to attribute the officer's death to a movement that seeks to end violence."

A prayer walk and second vigil at the Chevron station where Goforth died has been planned for Sunday night. A Houston-based non-profit group called the 100 Club, which supports the families of firefighters and law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty, is providing Goforth's wife with $20,000, and additional support, up to $300,000, could be provided to his family depending on their needs after an assessment is completed, the organization said.

At a vigil at the gas station Saturday night, members of the community were joined by law enforcement officers. Goforth's wife, Kathleen, released a statement to Houston television station KPRC-TV that said her husband was "ethical; the right thing to do is what guided his internal compass.