Paul Steven Habelt was 63 and a career law enforcement officer with 43 years of service when he was killed on May 17, 2007. He had served with the Oakland Police Department and South Lake Tahoe Police Department before joining the Henderson County Sheriff’s Department in Texas. That day he and Deputy Tony Ogburn responded to a domestic disturbance in Payne Springs alongside Deputy Kevin Harris. The deputies were met with gunfire from Randall Wayne Mays, who used a high-powered rifle. Both Habelt and Ogburn were killed and Harris was wounded.

Mays was arrested and charged with capital murder. At trial his defense raised his history of mental illness and a belief that the deputies were there to kill him; the court found him competent and he was convicted and sentenced to death. Habelt was survived by his wife, six children, and many colleagues.

Does anyone have memories of Deputy Habelt’s service or information about the Payne Springs call that could add detail to the timeline?