By James Pinkerton
Houston Chronicle
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Several hundred police officers, local residents and volunteer firefighters gathered for a memorial service Saturday morning in the county park named for slain deputy Darren H. Goforth, an effort by organizers to keep the memory of the officer alive.
Goforth, 47, was gunned down on the evening of Aug. 28, 2015, as he pumped gas into his Harris County Sheriff’s Department patrol vehicle at a northwest Harris County gas station.
The man charged with capital murder in his death, Shannon Miles, 31, has been in a state mental hospital since earlier this summer for treatment to restore his mental competency, his defense attorney said.
“We come here today not to shed any more tears, but to remember and reflect on the man that he was and what his death meant to the community,” said Tim Mordecai, a veteran deputy sheriff and president of the Deputy Memorial Fund which organized the event.
Sitting in the front row of chairs in front of the podium was the deputy’s father, Allen Goforth, who later said the family was grateful for the many tributes and anecdotes - some of them humorous - recalled by officers who were close to his son.
“All of them were right on, they absolutely knew Darren and described him pretty good,” said his father, who explained his son was happy with the career he made in law enforcement. “He liked to help people. If he saw someone with a hood up and broke down he’d stop and see if he could help them. There were times he’d actually followed the school bus to see the kids got there.”
Many of the speakers, including friends of Goforth from the sheriff’s office and other law enforcement agencies, found it difficult to control their emotions when speaking of the officer.
Roland De Los Santos, a lieutenant with the Houston Police department, was a childhood friend of Goforth who wrote a letter of recommendation when he applied to become a sheriff’s deputy.
“Darren was just a very down-to-earth, regular Joe. He was unpretentious, and that’s what everybody liked about him,” De Los Santos said. “Darren loved laughing, he was very genuine, kind and helpful, and humble. He wasn’t looking for anything. If you needed help, he’d help you and he wasn’t looking for any kind of kudos.”
The Deputy Memorial Fund, a nonprofit run by volunteers, has given more than $60,000 to the Goforth’s surviving family, Mordecai said.