Police work is dangerous, officers take an oath to protect and serve the people in their community. They put their lives at risk to keep others safe. Whenever a police officer leaves home for a shift, there is always a chance they may not come back the same, or may not come back at all.
Before someone can become a police officer, they have to go through several steps to make sure they are mentally ready for the job. Including mental-health checks, personality or integrity tests.
The job of a police officer is to protect and serve the community, act as an upstanding member of the force, and follow all laws.
But a recent story that made national news involving a Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputy interesting and disheartening at the same time. The local deputy made the news twice in the last two years — and not for great police work.
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Deputy Marvin Morales, who had previously been found passed out inside a department bathroom, was recently involved in a heartbreaking incident where he allegedly stabbed and killed his 11-year-old son, then led officers on a chase that ended with him being fatally shot.
Morales had been fired from the Sheriff’s Department last year after an internal investigation. That investigation started in 2023 after he stopped a suspicious person and took a piece of foil he thought had meth in it. He cited the people and let them go, but later hid the foil and brought it into an employee bathroom at the department.
A few hours later, body-camera footage showed Morales unconscious on the bathroom floor. Deputies gave him Narcan, and he was rushed to the hospital where he later woke up. Hospital toxicology tests showed both methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system, and a later hair test suggested long-term meth use. Investigators believed that Morales mistakenly thought the foil actually contained meth and smoked it in the bathroom, causing him to overdose. He was terminated in Feb. 2024.
On Tuesday morning, Dec. 2, 2025, Morales is accused of stabbing his son, Mar Aris Untalan Morales. A motive has not been identified. Reports say Morales’ wife saw Mar Aris lying on the ground on their home’s security-camera footage and immediately called police. A second child, a 6-year-old, was also home, but not hurt.
Before officers arrived, Morales drove off, which quickly turned into a pursuit. Law enforcement eventually found him, and the chase ended when officers shot and killed him. Elk Grove police were unable to release details about what was found in his vehicle, but said “the gun safe at his home was empty.”
According to KCRA3, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper was one of the first people to spot Morales while he was fleeing.
“I didn’t want him to see me, because he knows me,” Cooper said. “I just followed at a distance and observed until more units got there.”
There are no current updates surrounding this case currently. It’s still unclear what the result of this case will be, because the suspect is deceased.
