Sheriff's office fires another deputy accused of relationship with Goforth witness

Harris County deputy Darren H. Goforth, 47, a 10-year department veteran was shot and killed at Chevron station on Friday night at Telge and West roads. Officials say the deputy was shot from behind and died at the scene. less Harris County deputy Darren H. Goforth, 47, a 10-year department veteran was shot and killed at Chevron station on Friday night at Telge and West roads. Officials say the deputy was shot from behind and died at ... more Photo: handout Photo: handout Image 1 of / 116 Caption Close Sheriff's office fires another deputy accused of relationship with Goforth witness 1 / 116 Back to Gallery

The Harris County Sheriff's Office has terminated a deputy for employee misconduct with a witness to the murder of Deputy Darren Goforth.

The sheriff's office said in a press release that it had terminated Deputy M. DeLeon on Tuesday.

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"Following the murder of Deputy Darren Goforth and the subsequent investigation, Sheriff Hickman has instructed the Internal Affairs Division to continue their review of employee misconduct with a witness in the case," department officials said in a press release Wednesday. "The ongoing investigation by our Internal Affairs Division concluded that Deputy Deleon was untruthful during the course of their investigation."

"I can't go into details because his appeals process has not yet been exhausted...," Sheriff Ron Hickman said, when asked Tuesday about DeLeon's termination. "But his alleged conduct would concern any law enforcement leader."

Ralph Gonzales, the spokesman for the Sheriff's Department, said the relationship took place before and after Goforth's death, and that the department was investigating yet another deputy for similar allegations with the same woman.

"There is another investigation in the process, with similar allegations against another deputy," Gonzales said.

PREVIOUS CASE: Investigator fired, admitted to "sexual contact" with witness

Goforth, 47, was gunned down at a northwest Harris County gas station last August. Department investigators arrested Shannon Miles, 31. He is charged with capital murder.

Weeks after the murder, prosecutors revealed in a legally required disclosure that an eyewitness told investigators she had been sexually involved with Goforth.

That information caused Anthony Osso, Miles' attorney, to argue that Goforth had gone to the gas station to meet the woman, and was not technically on duty at the time of his death, meaning his client should not be eligible for the death penalty.

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The case against Miles was further embroiled earlier this week when a Harris County district judge ordered he be committed to a mental hospital for 120 days so mental health professionals could try to restore him to competency.

In October, the sheriff's office revealed that one of its homicide detectives, Craig Clopton, had also been sexually involved with the woman. The sheriff's office fired Clopton for the misconduct and led Hickman to call his behavior "unethical and inexcusable."

Earlier this month, the sheriff's office clarified its misconduct policy requiring deputies not to have sexual contact with "... any individual who is a party to an ongoing active investigation." Previously, it had only forbade sexual contact with persons in custody.

Brian Rogers and Lauren Caruba contributed.