Cop Killer Files Appeal

ATHENS — The man who was convicted of killing two Henderson County Sheriff’s Department officers was back in court Tuesday. Randall Wayne Mays was convicted of capital murder, and sentenced to the death penalty for fatally shooting Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Paul Steven Habelt, 63, and deputy Tony Ogburn, 61 on May 17, 2007. The officers were killed in the shootings after responding to a disturbance at a residence in Payne Springs. A third officer, HCSO Deputy Kevin Harris, was shot in the leg during the May 17 shooting. He did survive. Mays’ attorney, Jeff Haas of Tyler, filed his appeal stating Ineffective Assistance of Counsel. Some of the points he hopes to bring out are the fact that there was no Change of Venue applied to the case, as well as May’s mental state at the time of the trial.