Polk County News

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FILE PHOTO - Law Enforcement flashing lights

GOODRICH — The body of a Livingston teenager was found after a possible homicide in Goodrich Tuesday.

The Polk County Sheriff’s office received a 911 call Tuesday morning in reference to a deceased male found in an area off of FM 1988 East in Polk County.

Sheriff’s office investigators, along with the Texas Rangers, responded to the scene on Lone Wolf Road. The scene was processed and evidence collected. Justice of the Peace Darrell Longino conducted the inquest and ordered for an autopsy to be performed by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office.

The victim has been identified as 19-year-old Brodrick Cooper of Livingston.

According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, the investigation is continuing as a possible homicide. The body is said to have been recovered from the road. As of Tuesday, it is thought that an altercation occurred at the location.

Friends on social media have messaged that Cooper died from a gunshot.

The Polk County Sheriff’s Office is asking anyone with information please contact their office at 936-327-6810 or Crime Stoppers at 936-327-STOP.

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COURTESY PHOTO Former Coldspring resident Marcos Morse was arrested in Guymon, Oklahoma last week on two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child. Morse had a pair of warrants out of Polk County for those crimes.

By Jason Chlapek

A suspect with outstanding warrants in Polk County and Coldspring ties was brought to justice Wednesday evening in Oklahoma.

Marcus Morse, 23, was arrested by the Guymon Police Department in Guymon, Oklahoma. Morse had two warrants from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child.

At approximately 4:20 p.m. Wednesday, the GPD received a call from the PCSO that they had warrants for Morse’s arrest. GPD officers attempted to serve the warrants to Morse at his residence, but he wasn’t there.

They learned that he was working at Seaboard Foods in Guymon, and they went there to make contact. GPD officers made contact with Morse an hour later and informed him of his warrants.

Morse was placed in handcuffs and taken to the back of a patrol unit where he was transported to the Texas County Detention Center without incident. He was awaiting extradition to Polk County at press time.

One Polk County resident who is pleased that justice was served is Hope McWhorter. Her 14-year-old nieces were the victims.

“My nieces will get justice from this monster,” McWhorter said.

Morse graduated from Coldspring-Oakhurst High School in 2015 and worked at the San Jacinto County Jail at one time. McWhorter said that she and her family took him and his family under their wing.

“We took them in when they were living in a shelter in Houston,” she said. “We got his baby brother graduated when their mom ran off on them. My husband took (Marcus) under his wing and took him to work on pipeline with him. We also helped him financially. There is so much to list.”

McWhorter said the incidents took place in October. Morse left for Oklahoma shortly after.

“I would encourage kids to speak up if this is happening to them,” McWhorter said. “People will protect them. Listen to your kids or any kids if they’re trying to talk to you.”

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JASON CHLAPEK I PCE Rotary Club of Livingston president Matt Anderson conducts business at last week’s Rotary Club meeting at the Polk County Chamber of Commerce.

By Jason Chlapek

Matt Anderson remembers when Rotary Club of Livingston met on a weekly basis.

He also remembers when there were 30-40 club members meeting on a weekly basis. But things have changed since Covid-19.

The local Rotary Club has met every other Thursday since the pandemic and attendance at the meetings has declined. Many of the club members are in the 50-over age group, which is more susceptible to adverse effects from Covid.

“The main reason for declining attendance is the health concerns related to Covid,” Anderson said. “People are a little leery to meet in large groups and to expose themselves is what the majority of our members have expressed. The majority of our members are mature and they’re the ones that are more susceptible to Covid.”

Anderson is the president of Rotary Club of Livingston. He would like to see attendance return to the way it was prior to Covid, and an increase in membership.

“In the past we’ve had committees and chairs that have taken care of and brainstormed different ideas for recruiting new members,” Anderson said. “Unfortunately, the last 6-8 months have been kind of stopped and had a pause button placed on it. We’re more in maintaining mode right now than we are growth mode or anything else. It’s just really hard right now to get new members and do events. We want new members and welcome new members. Unfortunately, this past year we have not been able to do the events we normally do or help out with them.”

While things are not as active as they were prior to Covid, Rotary Club is still going to perform two of its biggest service projects, albeit on a smaller scale. Anderson said manpower, not finances, are more of a reason behind this.

“We’re still doing the Empty Stocking program to help our community, but we’re doing it on a smaller scale just for the sheer number of volunteers and community help that we have,” he said. “We need people to help us shop and to deliver. Unfortunately, right now we don’t have as many as we normally do. We have our Pancake Supper toward the end of February. We’re still planning on having that, but with a revised schedule of having a drive-thru meal option. We hope the community is still looking forward to having some Rotary Pancakes.”

For the moment, Rotary Club meets every other Thursday at noon at the Polk County Chamber of Commerce. Anderson said things could change once the new year starts.

“We’re doing every-other-week meetings to help people social distance,” he said. “We can go back to meeting once a week if that helps our members if that’s what our membership wants. We’re trying to do what’s best for our membership, listen to what their needs are and what they want. With the holidays approaching, lots of our members travel and visit families so it’s a little harder right now. If we decide to resume weekly meetings, it would be in January before we did that.”

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PHOTO BY JASON CHLAPEK I PCE Texas LawShield representative Gary Blalock speaks at Lions Club of Livingston last week at Cam Cho Yeh.

By Jason Chlapek

Self-defense is a necessity at times.

There are times, however, when it can come back to haunt the person who defends itself. Gary Blalock knows this all too well.

Blalock was the guest speaker at Lions Club of Livingston last week. He’s a representative of Texas LawShield – a legal defense program for self-defense.

Blalock was once involved in a self-defense situation in which a legal defense program could’ve helped him. Unfortunately, Texas LawShield didn’t exist until 2009 and the incident involving Blalock took place in 2000.

“I owned a bar and two patrons were involved in a fight,” Blalock said. “Then one of them assaulted one of my employees. The employee called me and I came to the bar to talk to them.”

Once Blalock arrived on the scene, trouble ensued. The patrons were not in the mood to reason with him at first.

“When I tried to stop them in the parking lot, they tried to run over me in their car,” Blalock said. “I drew my firearm and when they saw the laser beam pointed at them, they got out and were willing to talk. Fortunately, I didn’t have to use deadly force.”

While Blalock wasn’t forced to use the firearm, the worst was yet to come. He soon found himself in legal trouble.

“I found out a few days later that there was a warrant out for my arrest,” Blalock said. “They went in and filed a report against me and I had to take care of things legally.”

Blalock had to pay approximately $4,000 in legal fees to prove that he acted in self-defense. He learned a valuable lesson from that fateful night.

“I should’ve called law enforcement and filed a report,” Blalock said.

Fast forward to 2010 and Blalock was with a former Marine friend at a gun show in Houston. It was there that he discovered Texas LawShield.

“The people who found Texas LawShield was the law firm of Walker, Rice and Wisdom – a law firm in Houston,” Blalock said. “All three gentlemen are from the Houston area and it was found in 2009. I became a member then went to work for it six months later. I became a member because of what it cost me in legal fees 20 years ago. One of my former Marine buddies still works for the company. He introduced me to the attorneys at a gun show at the George Brown Convention Center. They explained to me what they do and how they protect us. For $10.95 a month, all of my legal defense is covered.”

Blalock has been involved with Texas LawShield since 2010. First as a member and now as a representative.

“The benefits are you have 24-hour access to a live attorney on an emergency hotline,” Blalock said. “When you’re in an ‘aww shucks’ moment and you’ve had to use force or deadly force, I want to know that I can contact my attorney and they’re going to be on their way to defend me. That’s the big thing. The fact that it’s so inexpensive, I don’t have to worry about going into my Dave Ramsey emergency fund, my retirement or the mortage for my house because all of my legal defense is covered because of this great program.”

Texas LawShield is under the U.S. LawShield umbrella. Blalock also discussed some of the coverages associated with the program.

“They offer additional coverages such as gunowner identity theft, multi-state protection and family protection,” he said. “I have my wife covered as well. I recommend this for everyone, especially now that we cover an individual for any kind of weapon. It no longer has to be a firearm. In today’s world, you see what happens. You have to defend yourself if someone attacks you. To me, it’s a no-brainer.”

Especially when self-defense becomes a necessity.