Murder trial to begin for 1 of 2 suspects charged in Fort Worth officer’s shooting death
A capital murder trial is set to begin Tuesday for one of two surviving men accused of being involved in a deadly robbery that killed a Fort Worth police officer over three and a half years ago.
After weeks of jury selection, where each potential juror was individually questioned, ended Wednesday. Timothy Huff, 36, will go on trial for his alleged involvement in the death of Garrett Hull, a 17-year police veteran, who was fatally shot in September 2018.
Opening statements are scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Tarrant County’s 396th District Court.
Huff is one of three men accused of participating in an aggravated robbery of the Los Vaqueros bar. Authorities have said he was joined by Dacion Steptoe and Samuel Mayfield, who were both 23 years old at the time of the incident.
Steptoe, who is believed to have shot and killed Hull, died after police returned gunfire while trying to apprehend the three men. Neither Mayfield nor Huff are believed to have fired a weapon during the confrontation, police said back in 2018.
Huff and Mayfield are both charged with murder for their alleged involvement in the robbery that led to Hull’s death, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Mayfield is expected to be tried separately. His attorney filed a motion in early May asking for a trial date to be set.
“The Defendant is being substantially prejudiced because of the failure of the State to afford him a speedy trial. In this regard, the Defendant has suffered oppressive pretrial incarceration,” Mayfield’s attorneys argued. “The Defendant is prejudiced by being denied a speedy and public trial in that witnesses become harder to locate, memories fade, and facts become unclear and harder to prove as time passes.”
