A Tarrant County grand jury on Thursday declined to indict a Watauga police officer who fatally shot a man in the head as he stabbed his pregnant girlfriend.
On Jan. 3, the officer was dispatched to a stabbing call just before 1 p.m. outside a house in the 6400 block of Patsy Lane. As he drove up to the scene, the officer observed a man, identified as 25-year-old Brandon Lee Melton, on top of a woman, stabbing her.
Another female stabbing victim was also at the scene.
The officer ordered the man to drop his weapon, but he refused and continued to stab the woman.
The officer then pulled his weapon fired one shot at the man, hitting him in the head. The man died several days later at an area hospital after being removed from life support.
Both women were taken to a hospital where they were treated for their injuries. One of the women was Melton's pregnant girlfriend who has since delivered a healthy baby girl. The other victim was the pregnant woman's friend, who had accompanied her over to the house that day to gather her belongings so she could leave Melton.
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Both cases were presented to the grand jury on Thursday by Deputy Chief District Attorney Jack Strickland and Assistant District Attorney Robert Huseman.
"This relatively inexperienced officer exhibited remarkable calm and competence in the midst of a vicious and unprovoked attack," said Deputy Chief District Attorney Jack Strickland. "His quick action that day unquestionably saved one, if not three, innocent lives."
