With a family photograph showing Richard Houston with his wife and kids placed front and center in the courtroom, the murdered officer’s loved ones told convicted killer Jamie Jaramillo about the lives he’s shattered but also offered him forgiveness.
“We can never escape the choice you made that day. We live with it every day,” said Houston's high school sweetheart and wife of nearly 20 years, Shelley Houston. “It steals our joy with immense pain. It’ll flood our eyes when we remember he will never share another adventure with us.”
Houston spoke of her husband whose smile and goofy nature could light up a room.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
“Our home is silent. The laughter. The daily conversations. The singing and the dancing, too,” she said.
She previously testified about having to break the awful news to their three young children.
“I wish it was required of you to hear the agonizing moments and cries from our children when I told them that their father, their hero, was gone,” she said.
Richard followed in his father’s footsteps and became a Mesquite police officer. He served the city for over 20 years. His younger brother Aaron told Jaramillo that Houston was his role model.
“You took away a man who truly deserved and earned the title of peace officer,” he said. “Richard would have gone out of his way to help you.”
From grieving family and friends to a department that is still reeling from the loss of their fellow officer.
“The department is different,” said Mesquite Police Chief David Gill. “Richard was not just a cop, he was a leader and an encourager.”
Gill told Jaramillo of the significant impacts felt by the department since Dec. 3, 2021.
“Over the last year, we’ve hired almost 30 officers but have more vacancies. Many have left because of your actions,” said Gill, who added a number of officers have gotten divorced or turned to alcohol in the wake of Jaramillo’s "barbaric actions."
But it was daughter Shelby Houston’s victim impact statement that brought many in the gallery to tears.
“I miss his goofy personality. It was never quiet in our house. Jamie, it’s all gone. You took a lifetime of memories from me,” she said. “He will never walk me down the aisle. He will never meet my kids.”
The 19-year-old then extended an invitation to the man who killed her father before turning the gun on himself. A man she calls "broken."
I forgive you, Jamie Jaramillo, for shooting and murdering my father. My prayer down the road is to spend time with you. Not to yell at you, not to scold you, simply to tell you about Jesus. I want to know what makes Jamie, Jamie. I want to know about your family, what you love, what you hate. I want to hear your life stories. I want to know the heart and soul behind the gun.
Shelby Houston, officer's daughter
The convicted cop killer, chained at the feet and hands, was then allowed to address the family. Jaramillo turned around, his eyes appeared to have been filled with tears, and asked to have his mask removed.
“To the family, I ask for forgiveness,” he said in Spanish, his words translated through a court-appointed translator on hand throughout the trial.
Jaramillo then insisted, as his defense contended, that he did not know he was shooting a police officer.
This, despite Houston being in full uniform, in his marked cruiser with flashing lights on and walking up to the back of Jaramillo’s pickup truck in an effort to stop him from leaving.
The moment led Shelby to break down in tears.
A defiant Jaramillo was then carted away. His young children overwhelmed with emotion, then rushed out of the courtroom.
On Wednesday, Jaramillo, at 38 years old, was automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. His legal team is expected to file an appeal.
Prosecutors dismissed assault charges against Jaramillo’s wife after she agreed to cooperate as a witness and testify at the punishment phase of her husband's trial, according to court documents.
