HOUSTON (AP) — Funeral arrangements have been set for a Houston-area police sergeant who was killed this week while trying to arrest a suspect during a traffic stop, officials announced Friday.
The details of Nassau Bay police Sgt. Kaila Sullivan’s funeral come as law enforcement agencies and police unions expressed anger the suspect charged in her death was initially given a bond following his arrest. That bond was later revoked as the charge was upgraded to capital murder.
Sullivan’s funeral service has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday at Grace Church Houston. It is the same church where the funeral service was held on Thursday for Houston police Sgt. Christopher Brewster, 32. He was killed Dec. 7 while responding to a domestic violence call.
Sullivan, 43, was trying to arrest Tavores Henderson during the Tuesday night traffic stop for an outstanding warrant for assault when he broke free.
Authorities allege Henderson fled in his vehicle and struck Sullivan, running over her and dragging her body. She later died at a hospital.
Henderson, 21, was arrested on Thursday following a nearly two-day search by authorities.
Court records didn’t list an attorney for him.
Henderson’s mother and her boyfriend have each been charged with hindering apprehension for allegedly helping Henderson flee authorities.
When he was arrested, Henderson was initially charged with felony murder and a magistrate judge had set his bond at $150,000.
Local law enforcement agencies, as well as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, expressed anger Henderson had been granted a bond.
In a statement, the Texas Municipal Police Association — the state’s largest law enforcement association — called the initial bond given Henderson “an insult to every member of law enforcement and the good citizens we are charged with protecting.”
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office said Friday there was never any chance Henderson would have been released from jail as his bond on another assault charge he is facing had been revoked, which meant he could not be released.
When prosecutors upgraded the charge to capital murder, they asked that he be held without bond and that request was granted, said Dane Schiller, a spokesman for the district attorney’s office.
“He is not going anywhere but a cell or courtroom, where he faces the possibility of life in prison or a death sentence,” Schiller said.
___
Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70
