Botham Jean's Family Hopes His Murderer's Verdict 'Sets A Powerful Precedent'

By Lauren Rearick


On September, 6, 2018, Botham Jean, a Black man who worked as an accountant and served as a church choir director, was shot and killed by a white policeman in his own residence who claimed she had mistaken his apartment for hers. A little bit over each year later, on Tuesday (October 1), a Texas jury noticed Amber Guyger guilty of his murder, The Dallas Morning News reported.


At the time of the murder, Guyger had completed a shift with the Dallas Police Department where she had worked for four years, NBC News noted. She lived in the same apartment detailed as Jean, and had parked on the incorrect floor before walking into his apartment alternatively opposed to her own. It was then that she opened fire, and killed Jean.


Guyger later claimed she mistook 26-year-old Jean for someone breaking into her apartment. He had been sitting on his own couch, eating ice cream and watching television, before Guyger trespassed into his apartment. She shot him twice, and later claimed she acted in self-defense, ABC News reported. She was arrested and charged with manslaughter on September 9, 2018, with a bail set at $300,000; two weeks later, she was fired from the Dallas police force for “adverse conduct.”


Immediately after shooting Jean, Guyger called 911 nevertheless apparently administered “minimal” aid as soon as she waited for help. She instructed them jury throughout trial, "I never wanted to take an innocent person's life. I'm so sorry. This isn't about hate — it's about being scared."


Dallas County Assistant District Attorney Jason Fine called Guyger’s “self-defense” claim “garbage,” and instructed them jury: “This has to do with that defendant making unreasonable decisions that put her in that seat and [Jean] in the ground.” Prosecution also noted that Jean’s apartment featured the only red doormat in the intricate, NPR reported; it’s not clear how Guyger would have missed that marker.


Testimony in the trial started on September 23, and the jury began deliberating on Monday, September 30. A verdict was reached in far less than 24 hours, CNN announced. The former policeman could potentially face life in prison; according to The Dallas Morning News, the jury was set to decide Guyger’s sentence later on Tuesday afternoon.


“Nothing will bring Botham back, however today his family member has noticed some measure of justice," attorney Benjamin Crump mentioned in a statement on behalf of the Jean family member. "What happened on September 6, 2018, is clear to everyone: This officer seen a black man and shot, without reason and without justification. The jury’s considerate verdict sets a powerful precedent for future cases, telling law enforcement officers that they cannot hide beyond the badge however alternatively will face justice for their wrongful actions.”


The conviction comes amid continued instances of police brutality and lackluster responses from the criminal justice system. Such violence, especially by non-Black officers against Black victims, dates back centuries, and recent instances have driven increasingly people to speak out against undue force.


Just months before Guyger was noticed guilty, the Department of Justice rejected to press criminal charges against the policeman who in 2014 put Eric Garner in a unlawful chokehold that led to his death, five years immediately after his last words — “I can’t breathe” — became a rallying cry in the fight against police brutality. That same year, a white policeman in Ferguson, Missouri killed 18-year-old Michael Brown; his death — as well as Garner’s death, and the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in 2016, and multiple others — sparked widespread protests by Black Lives Matter activists and allies calling for justice and better accountability for instances of violence that occurred at the hands of police.


On Tuesday (October 1), one of the attorneys for the Jean family member, Lee Merritt, touched on the potential nationwide significance of the jury’s verdict: "It's a signal that the tide is going to change here,” he mentioned. "Police officers are going to be contained responsible for their actions, and we believe this is going to change the policing culture all over the world.”