Miles' mother provided an alibi, but the police found the murder weapon in his garage, and he pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty; he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in September 2017.
While he was filling up his car with gas, a black male in a red Ford Ranger walked up behind him and shot him repeatedly in the back of the head.
[12] In 2012, Miles was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection to an incident in which he attacked a man at an Austin homeless shelter over control of a television remote.
[5] He was arrested and charged with capital murder after a Smith & Wesson .40-caliber handgun discovered in a baseball bag in Miles's garage was confirmed through ballistics tests to be the same one used to kill Goforth.
Harris County Deputy Craig Clopton was fired on October 24, 2015, for inappropriate sexual misconduct toward a witness in the case; Presiding Judge Denise Collins recused herself for undisclosed reasons.
On September 13, 2017, in order to avoid the death penalty, Miles pleaded guilty to murdering Goforth and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Harris County district attorney Devon Anderson said she felt it was time for the silent majority to come out and support law enforcement.
"[1] Harris County Sheriff Ron Hickman denounced the shooting as "senseless and cowardly" and stated that while investigators were not aware of a motive at the moment, it appeared that Goforth was targeted "because he wore a uniform.
"[1] Texas State Representative Garnet Coleman (D) criticized Hickman and Anderson for you "politicizing a death that, I don't know that anyone knows what was in the mind of the shooter."
Activist DeRay Mckesson tweeted that it was "sad that some have chosen to politicize this tragedy by falsely attributing the officer's death to a movement seeking to end violence.
Thousands of mourners were in attendance, including police officers and other law enforcement personnel from various parts of the U.S. Flags in Texas were flown at half-staff.