Deputy Constable Jennifer Chavis, killed in a suspected drunk driving crash, remembered as a protector

Jennifer Chavis’ coworkers always knew when the rookie Harris County Precinct 7 deputy constable had gotten to work. They’d hear her bright laugh fill the office, as she proclaimed, “The queen has arrived!” Chavis’ voice was silenced early Saturday evening, after a vehicle driven by a man accused of driving drunk slammed into the back of her patrol vehicle, setting the car ablaze and killing the 32-year-old peace officer. “It was just devastating,” Constable May Walker said. “She was a tremendous officer.” Law enforcement had been a natural fit for Chavis, according to her brother, Darius Daniels. "She was always putting herself in the role of a protector,” he said, “no matter what she was doing.” Chavis grew up the eldest of three kids in a home near Liberty, Texas, Daniels said, and always looked out for her younger siblings.

She joined the U.S. Army after high school, and spent six years in uniform. Later, she moved to Pearland, and decided on a career in policing. She'd studied criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown, then received a master’s degree from Texas Southern University. She joined Precinct 7 in November 2020, and was soon assigned to patrol the toll roads in south Harris County, where she spent nights looking out for speeders and drunk drivers and investigating road rage shootings. And frequently, she’d show up hours early to help run patrols looking for motorists with fraudulent paper plates. The work was long and didn’t leave much time for socializing, but she soon gained a reputation as a hardworking deputy with a big heart. “She wanted the best for you,” Deputy Leslesy Williams said. They’d gotten to know each other last summer, after Chavis arrived at the toll road division. Chavis loved to talk about her 4-year-old son and 11-year-old nephew, he said, recalling one shift where she regaled him about the two boys leaving a mess in her truck; alternatively annoyed and amused. She soon learned that he had aspirations to be an investigator, and pushed him to pursue that dream. “She never settled,” he said. “So she wouldn’t let you settle.”