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Thread: Jury declines to Charge Henry Magee With Murder in 2013 TX Shooting Death of Sergeant Investigator Adam Sowders

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Jury declines to Charge Henry Magee With Murder in 2013 TX Shooting Death of Sergeant Investigator Adam Sowders



    Sergeant Investigator

    Adam Sowders

    Burleson County Sheriff's Office, Texas

    End of Watch: Thursday, December 19, 2013

    Sergeant Investigator Adam Sowders was shot and killed as he and seven other officers attempted to serve a warrant at rural home near Somerville shortly before 6:00 am.

    As the team made entry into the home they were met with gunfire and Sergeant Sowders suffered fatal gunshot wounds. One suspect was taken into custody at the scene.

    Sergeant Sowders had served with the Burleson County Sheriff's Office for seven years and had previously served with the Somerville Police Department.

    Please contact the following agency to send condolences or to obtain funeral arrangements:

    Sheriff Dale Stroud
    Burleson County Sheriff's Office
    1334 Highway 21 E
    Caldwell, TX 77836

    Phone: (979) 567-4343

    Bio & Incident Details

    Age: 31

    Tour: 7 years

    Badge # 904

    Cause: Gunfire

    Incident Date: 12/19/2013

    Weapon: Gun; Unknown type

    Suspect: Apprehended

    http://www.odmp.org/officer/21892-se...#ixzz2oA8lN9uo
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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Man Accused of Murder in Texas Deputy’s Death

    A funeral will be held next week for a Central Texas sheriff's deputy who was fatally shot while serving a search warrant.

    The service for Burleson County sheriff's Sgt. Adam Sowders will be at 1 p.m. Friday at Central Baptist Church in College Station. Interment will follow at Oak Lawn Cemetery in the deputy's hometown of Somerville.

    Police have arrested Henry Goedrich Magee, 28, and charged him with capital murder of a peace officer in the shooting death of Burleson County Sheriff's Sgt. Adam Sowders.

    Officials booked Magee, of Somerville, into the Burleson County Jail Thursday afternoon and transferred him to Brenham, where he will be held on a $1 million bond.

    Sowders died Thursday after gunfire erupted while he was serving a warrant at a home in Central Texas, authorities said.

    He was part of a team of eight officers entering a rural residence east of the town of Somerville to serve a warrant, Burleson County Sheriff Dale Stroud said. He was shot as the team entered just before 6 a.m. and later died of his injuries. No other officers were hurt.

    The warrant was served at a rural home about 90 miles northwest of Houston, according to Trooper Jimmy Morgan of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

    According to the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement, Sowders had been a Burleson sheriff's deputy for seven years and had previously served as a police officer in Somerville.

    Stroud said Sowders, 31, had recently been promoted to a sergeant investigator position.

    "Adam was well-respected, extremely well-liked, and he's going to leave a big hole in what we do here," Stroud said Thursday.

    Sowders graduated from Somerville High School in 2001. School district superintendent Charles Camarillo recalled Sowders Thursday as a friendly, professional officer who was well-known in their small town. A handful of the district's current teachers went to school with Sowders.

    Josephine Reese had Sowders in her biology class when he was a sophomore. Reese said Thursday that she wasn't surprised to see him pursue a law enforcement career.

    "He's the kind of person that was for what's right and wanting others to do the right thing," she said.

    Reese remembered Sowders more than a decade later for his reserved, attentive nature.

    "I never saw him in a stressful situation where he couldn't handle things," Reese said. "It was a wonderful student to have in class, because you never had to stay on him about anything."

    The Texas Rangers and the Texas Highway Patrol are also investigating.

    http://www.kxan.com/news/texas/man-c...o-deputy-death
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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    <header class="mod-header"> Related Content

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    Grand jury declines to indict man on capital murder charge in deputy's death

    The man accused of killing a Burleson County sheriff’s deputy was not indicted on a capital murder charge Wednesday.

    A Burleson County grand jury returned a “no bill” on the charge but did indict Henry Magee on possession of marijuana, a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison.

    Deputy Adam Sowders was shot and killed while serving a “no-knock” search warrant at Magee’s home before 6 a.m. on Dec. 19.

    Investigators had been looking for marijuana plants and possible stolen weapons.

    Dick DeGuerin, Magee’s attorney, said investigators found two 6-inch marijuana plants, seedlings and firearms that belonged to Magee or his family members.

    “It was a tragic accident, but it wasn’t a crime,” DeGuerin said, adding that his client was defending himself, his pregnant girlfriend and his home from intruders.

    Magee remains at the Washington County Jail awaiting bond

    http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/a...9bb2963f4.html
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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Are “no-knock” search warrants worth the life of an officer when served on a suspect growing/dealing weed? I think not!
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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Sounds a bit like a case in Chesapeake, Virginia.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend JLR's Avatar
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    This case is a tragedy and displays a perfect example of when a no knock search warrant is completely inappropriate. It's not like Magee would of been able to flush marijuana plants down the toilet. I agree with the grand jury decision and believe the death of Sowder's is down to ineffective police tactics rather than malicious intent from Magee. RIP.

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    Moderator mostlyclassics's Avatar
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    Also, some details are missing from the reports, notably whether the officers were wearing bulletproof vests. It almost sounds like they, particularly Sowder, weren't.

    I would think that donning bulletproof vests before serving a no-knock warrant would only make common sense.

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    Senior Member CnCP Legend Mike's Avatar
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    February 9, 2014

    Texas Sheriff Deputy Killer Acted in Self Defense, Escapes Capital Murder Charge

    Henry Goedrich Magee, the man who shot and killed a Texas Deputy Sheriff during the execution of a search warrant, has escaped a capital murder charge. Attorney Dick DeGuerin made the case, before a grand jury, that McGee did not know that a SWAT team was entering his house and thought he was the victim of a home invasion.

    Magee, 28, has past drug-related and DUI convictions – including a felony. He lived with his pregnant girlfriend in a house about 90 miles north of Houston. The Burleson County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant for Magee’s home, suspecting that he was in possession of narcotics and possibly illegal firearms. Shortly before 6am on the morning of December 19, 2013, a SWAT team broke through Magee’s front door. This was what is known as a “no-knock warrant,” so the Texan man has no idea the police were entering his house. It appears unclear as to whether or the officers identified themselves when they made the entry. Magee, fearing this was a home invasion, grabbed a rifle and fatally shot 31-year-old Deputy Adam Sowders.

    On February 5, Magee faced a grand jury and the prospect of being charged with capital murder. If convicted, he would have faced life imprisonment without the possibility of parole or a death sentence. The jury declined to hand down the murder charge as there was no evidence to prove that Magee had been aware law enforcement officers were serving a warrant. THe was, however, charged with a third degree felony for being in possession of marijuana whilst so being in possession of firearms. Immediately after the shooting, Magee was taken into custody and officers recovered a small number of marijuana plants and seedlings from the house, in addition to four firearms – all of which were legally owned. Although Magee was a felon, under Texas law, a felon may own a firearm if five years have elapsed since their sentence was completed.

    http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/texas-...murder-charge/
    "There is a point in the history of a society when it becomes so pathologically soft and tender that among other things it sides even with those who harm it, criminals, and does this quite seriously and honestly. Punishing somehow seems unfair to it, and it is certain that imagining ‘punishment’ and ‘being supposed to punish’ hurts it, arouses fear in it." Friedrich Nietzsche

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