Policeman's child dies after shooting self in head By RUTH RENDON and PEGGY O'HARE Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle The 7-year-old daughter of a Houston police officer used a revolver found in a bedroom of her family's Deer Park home and fatally shot herself while she and three siblings were in the care of their 13-year-old sister. Dovie Caroline Hill, whose seventh birthday was Friday, shot herself on the left side of her head while she was in the master bedroom of the family's single-story brick home in the 100 block of W. 4th St., Deer Park police Lt. Omar G. Akmal said. The child was taken by helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital, where she died less than an hour after the 8:15 p.m. shooting Monday. The girl's father, Glen Forrest Hill, 39, who has been with the Houston Police Department for nearly 20 years and is assigned to the Clear Lake substation, was working an extra job at the time of the shooting. It is not known where the girl's mother, Terri Lynn Hill, 40, was on Monday evening. Dovie along with her brothers, ages 2, 5 and 9, were being baby-sat by their 13-year-old sister. "All I know is that she picked up the gun and gave herself a gunshot wound," Akmal said. Police retrieved two loaded revolvers and an unloaded rifle from the master bedroom, Akmal said. The guns, he said, "were not secured." Akmal, however, would not comment on where the weapons were in the bedroom. Authorities have not determined whether the weapon used was Hill's service revolver. In April 1990, Hill, while in uniform but off-duty, was shot in the head during a robbery attempt at a fast-food restaurant. Police said the officer escaped death because the suspect had loaded the wrong ammunition into his pistol. Three months later, police arrested a man in connection with the shooting and learned the other man involved had been shot and killed at a party in May 1990. Hill also was involved in an October 2000 sting involving a Houston doctor who was charged with solicitation of capital murder after he hired Hill to kill a former patient. Dr. Armando Sanchez agreed to pay Hill $8,000 up front to kill the patient and promised $5,000 to $7,000 more once the job was done. When Hill told Sanchez the patient had been killed as agreed, Sanchez promised to have the rest of the money the following day. After meeting with Hill, Sanchez was confronted by other police officers and arrested after a short foot chase. In addition to Deer Park police, HPD's Internal Affairs Division is investigating Monday's shooting and sent two officers to the Hill home. The internal affairs probe was not prompted by any allegations of misconduct, HPD spokesman John Leggio said. HPD officials said state law prohibits them from disclosing whether the officer lives at the home, but driver's license records show that he does. Hill, a member of the Houston Police Officers Union, contacted the union for help after the tragedy occurred Monday night. Union president Hans Marticiuc sent a union attorney to the home to assist Hill. Officers in the union can call for such help any time they face the possibility of disciplinary action, Marticiuc said. HPD employees' general orders do not mandate any specific rules for unloading or locking up guns, but the department expects officers to use common sense and sound judgment in such matters, Leggio said. Whether state law was violated in this instance is another question, officials said. "Really, the lesson here is, civilian or police officer, guns need to be secured. Do whatever you need to try to keep these things out of a child's hands," Marticiuc said. Harris County Children's Protective Services officials also went to the home Monday evening and are investigating. The girl's parents have agreed to let the surviving children live with their grandparents until Deer Park police and CPS complete their investigation, CPS spokeswoman Judy Hay said. CPS officials have no record of any abuse or neglect complaints at the Hill home, Hay said. It is not against the law for a 13-year-old child to baby-sit younger siblings at 8 p.m., Hay said. The law mandates no age limit for a baby sitter, but does stipulate children cannot be left as caretakers in a situation that is beyond their ability to handle, she said. The Harris County Medical Examiner's Office completed an autopsy of the girl late Tuesday afternoon. No official cause of death was given "pending further studies." Neighbors told police that Dovie, who was described as always walking her dogs, was home-schooled along with her older siblings. No one answered the door at the Hill residence, which is on a quiet street with modest homes off Center Street near Texas 225. Telephone messages from the Chronicle also were not returned. The light gray brick home with light pink wooden shutters on the exterior showed no signs Tuesday afternoon of the tragedy. An old Chevrolet pickup along with two other cars sat in the driveway while a variety of toys and an infant car seat cluttered the front entry to the house. A sticker with a rainbow reading, "Prayer Care Share" adorned a front window. A neighbor, who asked that his name not be used, said the Hill children were well-behaved, friendly and loving. "They are a fine family," the neighbor said. "Whenever I drive up, if they are outside, the little ones run over and hug me and love on me. I broke down and cried when I found out what happened." Hill remains on regular duty pending action by Deer Park police, HPD officials said. He was on funeral leave Tuesday. "He does a great job for us; he is one of our very best officers out here," said HPD Clear Lake Capt. David Gott. "He does just a heck of job. He cares about his family, talks about his family a lot." Hill is "crushed" by his daughter's death, his captain said. "He's obviously real shook up, very upset. He loved his daughter very much. He loves all his kids very much," Gott said. Akmal said police are investigating the incident as they would any other shooting. Police, he said, have not interviewed the girl's parents and will wait awhile to discuss the case with the girl's siblings. The case, he said, will be referred to the Harris County District Attorney's Office. "I have no idea on charges," Akmal said. "We'll send it to the DA for review. We always do on cases like this."
I always thought police officers had to take some kind of intelligence test to get on the force...maybe a common sense test? You're a police officer and have five young children. You also have three guns in the house. You should. a) lock the guns away in a safe location away from the ammo b) lock the guns away in a safe location with ammo inside them c) keep the loaded guns in a place that is easily accesible d) irrelevant, because children have no idea how to operate a firearm
how awful...the guy made an awful mistake...let's try not to pile on...i think it's probably enough he lost his daughter without talking about how stupid we think he is for not doing what we'd do... just hope and pray one of your mistakes doesn't end with consequences like this...because it very well could.
Sorry, MadMax, but this guy didn't forget to pick his kid up at soccer practice. This falls in the category of "inexcusable." He should be charged with some kind of crime, and If the gun was his service revolver, he should be fired THEN charged with a crime... child endangerment? involuntary manslaughter?
I think the loss of his daughter and not being able to watch her grow up because of his own mistake is punishment enough....my prayers and thoughts are with this family. This man goes out everyday risking his life to protect you and I. This was just a trajic and stupid mistake.
I think highlighting the fact that this was an extremely idiotic thing to do on the police officers part only helps prevent this in the future. Sitting back and saying that is a shame, mistakes happen, lets hope a mistake you make won't be as fatal, does nothing to identify the cause fo the mistake and help prevent it in the future. The clear message here is not only that mistakes, often fatal, can happen, but that leaving a loaded gun in an easily accessible place with a house full of young kids is an idiotic mistake that could have and should have been prevented.
Way too often parents think that if they hide guns in their room kids will not find them. Hell I remember digging thru my dads closet when I was a kid and finding his loaded shotgun in there. Adults forget how nosey kids can be. I agree with Moballs that the loss of his child is far more punishment than he deserves.
I also found my Dad's gun once, and my brother's another time. You have got to lock them up. When I found my Dad's I was about 6. Kids dig through everything, I sure did.
what goal will that punishment meet? does it deter him from doing this again? i'm guessing the death of his daughter took care of that...does it have merely a retribution effect? again, i'm guessing the death of his daughter is retribution enough. i don't see why the cries for justice are so rampant on this one...prosecutorial discretion is a good thing.
Max, I know he must be grieving, and he will never forgive himself, but COME ON !!! What kind of idiots do we have running around as police officers? UNSECURED GUNS????? This is lunacy......I don't believe in punishing the guy, but for crying out loud, how many kids have to die in accidental death before we get some DECENT gun control rules? Makes me sick that common sense is being ignored....guns...should not be accessible to children...PERIOD !! DD
Madmax, Sorry but that's a terrible argument. Are we going to make a distinction that the parent of a child who kills himself is less responsible for his actions than the parent of a child who kills another child? What if the 7 year old had used her father's handgun to kill a friend of hers, or anyone else who wasn't in the family? I'm sure the father would still be terribly sorry, but either way, he was grossly irresponsible. You have to place the same value on each person's life; just because your actions cost the life of your own child, does not mean you should be immune to any consequences of the law.
you're a letter of the law kinda fella, i guess...again, there is such a thing as prosecutorial discretion.
How do you feel about the parents who leave their children alone in their car for 5 hours on a 92 degree Houston summer day? Should they be immune from punishment? Children have a value, not only to their parents, but to society. Society (which includes the justice system), has the responsibility to protect children, just like parents do.
A parent leaving a child in the car for five hours is not even in the same ballpark as having a gun in the house. If you're going to compare it to something compare it to driving with a infant in the front seat of car that has an air bag. It's the same thing.
there is a difference in degrees of negligence...what if this guy had a system that was reasonable for locking these things up, but it wasn't full-proof? we don't know the whole story here at all...not even a little bit. i draw a sharp distinction in my mind behind leaving a child in a car on a hot day and a case like this one. apparently i'm in the minority on this one....
Yes they are different things, but the end result is that the child dies out of gross parental neglect. As for the police officer's side of the story, it seems fairly inconsequential. A gun was found under the bed, and the child found it, and fatally shot herself in the head. I doubt a 7 year old was able to pick open a lockbox, or something complicated like that. Trying to defend his side of the case under these premises is kind of like nailing jello to a tree. These cases like these happen all the time too, it's just that we don't hear about them as much when a police officer's family isn't involved. Very sad.
