East Texas

By MALENA OGLES
Staff Writer

ATHENS — A little more than a year ago, a community of law enforcement officers stood on the grassy lawn in front of the Henderson County courthouse and cried over the loss of two of their own who were fatally shot in the line of duty.

Tuesday, the community gathered again, but this time to celebrate the men’s lives and add the officers’ names to Henderson County Peace Officer Memorial.

Paul Steven Habelt, 62, a 13-year veteran from Eustace, and Tony Price Ogburn, 61, a five-year veteran from Log Cabin, were shot and killed while responding to a domestic disturbance call on May 17, 2007.

As the sun set over the courthouse, a wail of sirens broke the soft murmurs of those waiting for the ceremony to begin, which opened with the playing of “Amazing Grace” on bagpipes.

“They are truly our fallen heroes,” said District Judge Mark Calhoon, who spoke at the ceremony.

As four Henderson County Sheriff’s officers in dress uniform fired off the rifle volley, Patricia Ogburn and Nita Halbelt held each other’s hands and cried.

“We honor you in death, but try to celebrate your life,” Calhoon said.

A blue wreath with white and red flowers was laid by the officers’ widows at the foot of the memorial marker that read “Dedicated to those who gave their lives.”

Deputy Sheriff Duane Sanders was only 18 weeks on patrol when he and his partner, Billy Jack Valentine, were called to a disturbance on Crawfish Ranch Road.

There, Randall Mays, shot and killed Sanders’ friend of 15 years, Tony Ogburn.

“We were first on the scene and I was 10 feet away when he was killed,” Sanders said. “It will always hurt.”

Sanders said sometimes he goes to work and still looks for his friend in the office, or listens on the radio and expects to hear his voice. After the shooting, Sanders’ family tried to talk him out of staying in law enforcement.

Now, he remains in law enforcement because of what his friend and mentor taught him.

“He helped me find a job I was proud to be part of,” Sanders said of Ogburn. “And Paul was great. He helped me shake out a lot of my weak points.”

Deputy Billy Jack Valentine said it was the outpouring of support from the community that helped his family and other law enforcement families cope with the loss.

“We will be in the healing process forever. This is going to hurt us forever, but we are going to continue doing the work that these men were doing,” Valentine said.

Valentine’s wife, Kim, said the men’s deaths have had a hard impact on all the families of Henderson County law enforcement officers.

“I will never watch him pull out of the driveway in his patrol car and look at him the same way,” she said.

Mrs. Valentine said going to the Henderson County peace officers memorial service is difficult every year, because it makes her and other families acknowledge the dangerous job their loved ones are doing.

“We’re going to keep supporting each other,” she said.

Last year, 181 peace officers were killed in the line of duty, and 22 of those officers were from Texas.

Mays was found guilty of capital murder in May and sentenced to death for the murders of Ogburn and Halbelt.

Nita Habelt, Chris Stanbury, Patricia Ogburn and Duane Sanders place a wreath at the Henderson County Courthouse in Athens during the memorial as Billy Jack Valentine (second from right) salutes.
(Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.)