Houston corporal funeral: Texas constable calls out judicial system 'coddling criminals': 'Enough is enough'

The funeral Tuesday for a Texas corporal shot and killed allegedly by an illegal immigrant during a Houston traffic stop included remarks from the leader of the department who slammed what he described as a broken judicial system for "coddling criminals" and allowing violent offenders to return to the streets.  

Harris County Cpl. Charles Galloway was shot in the head while conducting a traffic stop on Jan. 23 in Houston. Body and dash camera footage show he was killed while still in the front seat of his patrol vehicle after the suspect hopped out of his car, fired a rifle into the corporal’s windshield and then fled.  

"We cannot continue to serve successfully the community we love when there’s this blatant disregard for authority because it doesn’t fit a particular narrative," Harris County Constable Precinct 5 Ted Heap said Tuesday at the funeral for Galloway, who is survived by an 11-year-old daughter. 

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This comes after three Houston Police officers were shot last week in a separate incident by a defendant with at least nine prior felonies and who was wanted for aggravated robbery. Houston witnessed 74 officers killed last year through violence and it on a pace to surpass that this year, Heap said. 

"Those in authority who are coddling the criminals and enabling this behavior have culpability just as those who are pulling the trigger," Heap said, speaking on behalf of the Galloway family.  "Those who are in power, those who are making decisions, those who are setting policy, those who are elected, those who are appointed, I ask you to do one thing – and that is to have the courage that Chuck had." 

"Have the courage to do what’s right, have the courage to make decisions that protect the innocent, have the courage to pass laws and then govern within those laws, have the courage to stand up against those who are destroying our state, our county, our city and the communities that we live in," he said. 

"We cannot continue to do our jobs effectively when the rest of the judicial system is broken. This three-legged stool is standing on one-and-a-half legs," Heap continued. "When we have governments that are funding three times as many public defenders as they are assistant district attorneys, when we have magistrates and judges who are issues miniscule bonds to recidivists so that they’re back on the streets so that you have to deal with it the next day and the people we serve have to live in fear. People need to be held accountable because enough is enough.

"This is a fight between good and evil, and we will not let evil prevail," he said.

During the Houston funeral, a pastor declared that we are living in a day and age "where is seems like war has been waged against the watchmen." He referenced the Jan. 21 shooting in Harlem that left NYPD Officers Jason Rivera and Wilbert Mora fatally wounded. Mora’s wake is Tuesday in New York City. 

Jose Oscar Rosales, a 50-year-old citizen of El Salvador, was arrested in Ciudad de Acuña, Mexico, for the capital murder of Galloway. Rosales was transported back to Texas and is held without bail. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed that he had previously entered the U.S. illegally. 

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Rosales was a "professional criminal’ who changed his identity multiple times since he was charged with capital murder in El Salvador in 1996, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg later confirmed.  

His common-law wife of 16 years, Reina Marquez, and her brother, Henri Marquez, were both arrested in Houston and charged with tampering with evidence. During a court appearance Tuesday, the same day as Galloway’s funeral, a judge increased bail for Reina to $250,000, up from the initial $100,000 set, the Houston Chronicle reported. Henri is expected in court later in the day.