By Michael Williams
A Fort Worth jury late Wednesday sentenced Timothy Huff to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the September 2018 murder of Garrett Hull, a Fort Worth police officer who was shot and killed while investigating a robbery.
Huff, 36, faced the death penalty after being convicted on a capital murder charge Monday in Officer Hull’s killing. The officer was part of a group surveilling Huff and two other people suspected of robbing several Latino bars in Fort Worth.
During the trial, prosecutors said Officer Hull was shot in an ambush by one of the suspected robbers, Dacion Steptoe, according to The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Steptoe was shot and killed by police; Huff and the third man, Samuel Mayfield, survived and were both charged with capital murder. Mayfield is awaiting trial.
Texas law holds that anyone participating in activities “clearly dangerous to human life” that end in a death can be held culpable, regardless of whether the person was directly responsible for the killing.
Police said the group targeted Latino bars and restaurants around Fort Worth because they believed the victims were less likely to report the robberies to authorities.
Testifying before his sentencing Wednesday morning, Huff apologized for his actions, the Star-Telegram reported. “I understand what it’s like to lose somebody,” he said, according to the Star-Telegram. “… I hope the family can forgive.”
