Published: May 14, 2008 09:58 am            

Slain deputy’s son: I’m not ready to forgive

Tony Ogburn Jr. knows he will have to forgive Randall Wayne Mays for shooting his father.

But that day isn’t today.

Tuesday afternoon, Ogburn Jr. and his family sat in 392nd District Court while Mays was sentenced to death for the murder of their father and husband, Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Tony Ogburn Sr.

Ogburn Sr., 61, and HCSD Investigator Paul Habelt, 63, were killed during a standoff at Mays’ Payne Springs residence on May 17, 2007.

“I am very happy with the verdict,” Tony Ogburn Jr. told reporters after the trial. “Now the healing process can begin.”

Ogburn Jr. — who lives in Oklahoma City, Okla. — said he still comes to Athens many times to “talk to my Dad’s grave.”

“At this time I don’t feel like I can forgive that man,” he said. “We have to take this one day at a time.”

After the verdict was read, statements from the families of Ogburn and Habelt were read to the court concerning the impact Mays’ actions have had on them.

Athens ISD Police Chief Paul Redic, a family friend, read statements from members of the Ogburn family.

Tony Ogburn’s brother, Joe, wrote that he has lost his best friend.

“You killed my brother,” Joe wrote, “but your rifle cannot kill the love.”

Throughout the statement, Redic quoted verses from the Bible while members of the audience cried.

Ralph Ogburn — another of Ogburn Sr.’s sons — was just beginning to form a relationship with his father at the time of the shooting.

“My father won’t come home now,” his statement read. “(Mays) didn’t have to kill my father.”

Christopher Paul Habelt said his father — his hero — was always watching out for everyone else.

“It’s not an easy task to put into words,” he said. “I was very much looking forward to many years together. My dad will never get to see his great-grandchildren.”

Christopher Habelt said the vision of what happened on May 17, 2007, plays over and over in his head.

Paul Habelt’s wife, Nita, — recounted the day she learned her husband had been killed.

She said she was waiting for her husband to call her on the phone to say he was coming home. Instead, a squad car pulled up to her house and two officers got out and told her Paul had been killed.

Mrs. Habelt told the court some of her grandchildren sleep in the hallway under a photo of Paul Habelt.

“We know he was truly a hero that day even though it’s hard to say it,” she said.

Redic ended his statement by reading the “Policeman’s Prayer” which asks for courage, strength and dedication.

“Give me, Lord, concern;

For all those who trust me...

And compassion for those who need me

And, please, Lord, through it all: be at my side.”

When Redic read the final line of the prayer, the many police officers in the courtroom said a quiet, “amen.”

        

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