HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A Harris County Sheriff's Office deputy who is facing a murder charge for a 2022 shooting turned himself in Friday morning, a day after a grand jury indicted him.
A judge set bond for Sgt. Garret W. Hardin at $10,000 after defense attorneys argued he wasn't a flight risk and had served more than 20 years as a deputy.
"This is another slap in the face," Demetrius Brooks said.
She's the sister of Roderick Vankeith Brooks, 47, who was gunned down by Hardin on July 8, 2022 after the deputy responded to a shoplifting call.
"The fact that he got a $10,000 bond and he was able to pay $1,000 cash after being charged with murder the night before, I think that's laughable," Justin Moore, the civil attorney representing Brooks' family, said.
After seeing body camera video of the shooting, family members said Brooks was "executed" for stealing shampoo.
But Hardin said he shot Brooks in self-defense because the suspect grabbed his Taser and used it on him.
"It's sad that we are at this political stage, where a deputy who went to work, a sergeant who went to work, put on a badge, put on his gun, put on his bulletproof vest and was threatened with his life and possibly not going home to his daughter and his wife, used self-defense and is charged with murder for it," Hardin's attorney Justin Keiter said.
The defense is also upset that the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force was sent to Hardin's home to arrest him.
"That's why this case is particularly egregious," Defense attorney Lisa Andrews said. "They know were he is, they know where we are, all it would have taken was a simple phone call."
The defense team requested a speedy trial and the judge granted it and set the trial date for Nov. 27.
Hardin was relieved of duty after the indictment.
The Brooks family is also filing a civil lawsuit, which will be heard while the criminal case moves forward.
Another family member shot and killed
The family is also mourning the recent shooting death of another loved one. They said Ernest Brooks, Roderick's 69-year-old brother, was killed In a drive-by shooting in north Harris County last week.
"You lose a family member, it's hard itself, but just the short length of time, it's extremely hard," Demetrius Brooks said Friday. "But we getting through it, we getting through it."
The shooting happened at a convenience store along Ella Boulevard near Barren Springs Drive. The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said the victim was not the intended target.
“There were other individuals exiting the store at the time, we believe those were probably the targets,” Sgt. Jason Brown with HCSO said.
At least 30 evidence markers could be seen on the street while deputies were on the scene.
“Quite a number of shots fired, multiple shell casings were fired from the road,” Sgt. Brown.
Investigators believe multiple shooters were involved. Surveillance video from the convenience store shows the vehicle driving by before it opens fire on the store. It’s not an isolated incident of gun violence.
Anyone with information on this shooting is asked to call the Harris County Sheriff's Office Homicide Unit at 713-274-9100 or Crime Stoppers of Houston.