State Trooper Prays with Grieving Family during Traffic Stop

A routine traffic stop ended in prayer earlier this week when State Trooper Ross Bates heard that the couple had experienced a death in the family.

According to KHOU, Lanell James, a middle school teacher, was driving from Conroe to Dallas with her husband, Lamar to be with family after Lamar’s brother died unexpectedly. As they drove through a small town, Bates pulled them over for a non-speeding violation.

Bates asked where they were heading, and she told him about her brother-in-law’s passing.

“He said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that, do you know where he is?’” Lanell explained. “My husband answered, ‘Yes, at the morgue,’ and [Bates] responded, ‘No, he is now in his heavenly home.’”

His reaction caught the couple off-guard. When he returned with a warning, the state trooper asked if he could pray with Lanell and Lamar and then removed his hat and held their hands while he prayed.

“I have never had this happen before, but it was everything that we needed in that moment,” Lanell said. “Thank you so much, Trooper Bates, for praying with us. There’s just so much in the news with the negativity and the police killings and the racial tension—it’s a lot.”

Early Sunday, Lanell & her husband were driving to Dallas. Her brother-in-law was killed in a crash.@TxDPSSoutheast Trooper Ross Bates pulled her over.
She explained situation.
He gave her a warning… and a…