A man accused in the 2018 death of Fort Worth Police Officer Garrett Hull is headed to prison after striking a plea deal supported by the officer's widow and family.
Samuel Mayfield pled guilty on Tuesday afternoon to murder and was sentenced to 60 years in prison by 396th District Judge George Gallagher. Timothy Huff, Mayfield's only surviving accomplice, was sentenced to life behind bars after being found guilty of capital murder last summer.
Both men had been charged with murder after Hull, 40, was killed in a shootout on Sept. 14, 2018, during an undercover investigation into a string of robberies targeting Latino bars. Police suspected Dacion Steptoe, Huff and Mayfield were responsible for 17 robberies in the area and that they had been targeting the bars under the belief that Latino victims would be less likely to report a robbery to authorities.
Hull was part of a team on a stakeout at Los Vaqueros bar when it was robbed. Police said after the robbery Huff, Steptoe and Mayfield walked outside and scattered in different directions after spotting the officers.
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Hull was among the officers who chased Steptoe, police said, who fired on the officers and hit Hull in the head. Hull was rushed to a nearby hospital where he later died. Steptoe was killed in the gun battle with police.
Mayfield and Huff were arrested and charged with the officer's murder because Texas law allows a person to be criminally responsible for the actions of someone else when there was a conspiracy to commit one crime and another felony occurs, the district attorney's office said.
The Tarrant County District Attorney's Office said Hull's widow, Sabrina, was in the courtroom Tuesday when Mayfield entered his plea. When Gallagher handed him his sentence, the district attorney's office said Sabrina closed her eyes and nodded.
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The DA's office said Hull's widow and family members supported the plea deal and that it spares them from having to relive his death through a second trial.
