Harris Co. Deputy murder suspect arrested in Austin in 2012

FOX 7 has learned the man who gunned down a Harris County Sheriff's deputy, Shannon Miles, was arrested by Austin police in 2012.

Austin police arrested Miles at the Salvation Army shelter in Downtown Austin on April 10, 2012. Residents there told officers Miles got into an argument with a man over what channel to watch on TV.

Witnesses then described a violent attack in which they say Miles punched, stomped and kicked a man in the head until he went unconscious.

Various residents said they attempted to break up the fight, but Miles continued even after being hit over the head with a metal chair.
 
The victim sustained a broken vertebra and was placed on a breathing machine. Medical specialists at University Medical Center Brackenridge Hospital said the man could've suffered total paralysis or death due to the seriousness of the injury.

Travis County prosecutors said miles was found mentally incompetent in October of 2012 and sent to the North Texas State Hospital.

He was declared mentally competent in February of 2013. Prosecutors offered a plea deal of seven years, but the charge was dismissed in April of 2013 when they victim could not be located.