Former Texas police officer found guilty of manslaughter for the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferso

[Elderberry]

WPSD 6 12/15/2022

Former Texas police officer found guilty of manslaughter for the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson at her home

Former Forth Worth, Texas, police officer Aaron Dean was found guilty of manslaughter Thursday in the 2019 shooting of 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in her home.

Dean, who is White,  faces up to 20 years in prison for the conviction. Jefferson was Black.

He had pleaded not guilty to murder, a charge which carried a possible sentence of five to 99 years. Jurors were instructed Wednesday to also consider the lesser included offense of manslaughter. The sentencing phase begins Friday, CNN affiliate WFAA reported.

Dean, in a gray suit, showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

Members of Jefferson's family were expressionless in the courtroom as the judge announced the verdict, WFAA reported. There was no immediate comment from family members.

"We're glad there was a guilty verdict. That's progress," the Rev. Crystal Bates, a minister and activist, told WFAA outside court.

"But there's so much work to be done... How he is sentenced is going to send a message not only to him but to other law enforcement to not be so trigger happy when you see somebody of color."

Defense attorneys had said Dean fired in self-defense, but prosecutors argued there was no evidence he saw a gun in the woman's hand before firing through a bedroom window.

Jefferson's 11-year-old nephew, who was with her at the time, and Dean's police partner — who responded with him to what they believed was a burglary — were the primary witnesses to the shooting and testified at trial. Dean took the stand and said he fired at Jefferson because she pointed a gun at him.

More: https://www.wpsdlocal6.com/news/former-texas-police-officer-found-guilty-of-manslaughter-for-the-shooting-death-of-atatiana-jefferson/article_c3c83e8a-7cc6-11ed-9251-bbf865a84e48.html

[Elderberry]

ABC7

 https://abc7chicago.com/atatiana-jefferson-verdict-aaron-dean-texas-officer-kills-black-woman-killed/12575497/

Dean shot Jefferson after a neighbor called a nonemergency police line to report that the front door to Jefferson's home was open. She had been playing video games that night with her nephew and it emerged at trial that they left the doors open to vent smoke from hamburgers the boy burned.

Police body camera footage showed that Dean and a second officer who responded to the call didn't identify themselves as police at the house. Dean and Officer Carol Darch testified that they thought the house might have been burglarized and quietly moved into the fenced-off backyard looking for signs of forced entry.

There, Dean, whose gun was drawn, fired a single shot through the window a split-second after shouting at Jefferson, who was inside, to show her hands.

Dean testified that he had no choice but to shoot when he saw Jefferson pointing the barrel of a gun directly at him. But under questioning from prosecutors he acknowledged numerous errors, again and again conceding that actions he took before and after the shooting were "more bad police work."

Darch's back was to the window when Dean shot, but she testified that he never mentioned seeing a gun before he pulled the trigger and didn't say anything about the weapon as they rushed in to search the house.

More at link.

[berdie]

I saw part of his testimony. I realize that the prosecutor's job is to discredit the defendant...but truthfully he came across as a complete ding-a-ling. I wish I could have listened to the redirect but it wasn't televised.