Arlington officer shot woman dead in a ‘tragic accident,’ defense says as trial opens
The dreadful encounter between Ravinder Singh and Margarita Brooks was interrupted after seconds when a mutt of about 40 pounds came running.
Singh, an Arlington police officer summoned to check on Brooks when a man called 911 to report she was unconscious outdoors on a blanket, fired three 9mm rounds from a Glock handgun.
A bullet Singh fired in an effort to stop the moving dog tore through Brooks’ left chest and her heart and lung.
Singh put his hands on the wound. When blood poured from her nose and mouth, Singh and a paramedic who had been behind him together turned Brooks’ body so the liquid would flow away.
Singh looked horrified, the paramedic, Ashley Brandt, testified as Singh’s criminally negligent homicide trial began on Tuesday.
Brooks’ death in Arlington in August 2019 was a mishap that unfolded in an instant and occurred in part because Singh feared he and Brandt could be mauled by a charging, aggressive dog that belonged to Brooks, defense attorney Rafael Sierra suggested to jurors in his opening statement.
“This case is about an American Dream, and it’s about a tragic accident,” Sierra said, telling jurors of the former officer’s biography.
Singh came to the United States from India when he was 7, joined the U.S. Marine Corps Forces Reserve and was a rookie officer at the time of Brooks’ death.
Singh graduated from the police academy in February 2019 and completed field training July 1, a month before the shooting.
Kathy Lowthorp also represents Singh.
Prosecutors allege the death of Brooks, who also suffered a bullet injury to her forearm, was a criminal act in which the victim was an innocent person.
Under Texas law, “a person is criminally negligent with respect to the result of his or her conduct when he or she ought to be aware of a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a particular result will occur.”
Prosecutors’ first witness in 371st District Court in Tarrant County was Brooks’ father, Troy Brooks, an Arlington Fire Department deputy chief.
Assistant Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Tim Rodgers, who is prosecuting the case with colleague Sam Williams, asked Brooks about how many children he has.
“I have three left,” he said.
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Margarita was 30 and had a relationship with her relatives that became difficult when she was 16. She sometimes slept outdoors.
Troy Brooks’ voice choked with emotion as he recalled identifying his daughter at a hospital by a tattoo on the back of her neck. After testifying, he moved to the gallery and looked at the courtroom’s floor and wall as Singh’s body-worn camera recording of the shooting was played for jurors.
The video shows Singh spotting Brooks in the distance and yelling questions when the dog began to bark and run in Singh’s direction.
Acquaintances have said Brooks, who was known as Maggie, was a regular in the area of the Seville Commons shopping center, near where she was shot on Aug. 1, 2019.
If he is found guilty, Singh, who resigned a few months after the shooting, faces a maximum of two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.
The trial, over which Judge Ryan Hill is presiding, is scheduled to continue on Wednesday afternoon.
This story was originally published August 23, 2022 at 5:27 PM.
