FORT WORTH (1080 KRLD) - The last of the three men charged in connection with the shooting death of a Fort Worth police officer more than four years ago will spend decades behind bars after reaching a plea deal with prosecutors.
Judge George Gallagher sentenced Samuel Mayfield, 37, to 60 years in prison for his role in the September 2018 shooting death of Ofc. Garrett Hull.
Mayfield, along with Dacion Steptoe and Timothy Huff, robbed the Los Vaqueros bar; and as police chased after them as they ran in different directions, Steptoe fired at officers, killing Hull.
Steptoe was killed by return fire.
Mayfield and the other suspect, Timothy Huff, were caught.
Huff was convicted of capital murder last year and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Prosecutor Tim Rodgers says he and his co-counsel, Lloyd Whelchel, were motivated to reach a plea deal to avoid going to trial.
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"We were going to be proving up fewer of those against Samuel Mayfield than we did against Timothy Huff," says Rodgers. "And we just believed Samuel Mayfield had quite a bit lesser involvement than Timothy Huff."
Furthermore, Rodgers wanted to spare Hull's family and friends from enduring a second trial.
"It became very clear to us that they definitely did not want to have to go through another trial," Rodgers says. "It looked like it was going to be something substantial and sufficient punishment for Samuel Mayfield in light of what he did. And certainly him, for all likelihood, never to see the light of day, never to get out of prison again, certainly this was a situation where they were very happy not to have to go through another trial."
Under state law, people can be held criminally responsible for the actions of someone else when there was a conspiracy to commit one crime and another felony occurs.
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