Former Police Officer Found Guilty Of Manslaughter In Atatiana Jefferson’s Killing

Body camera footage showed police walking around the property in the dark. Dean, who is white, saw a person through the window and fired one gunshot, killing Jefferson, police said shortly after the shooting occurred.

The video showed Dean yelling, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” then firing his gun. The entire exchange lasted less than four seconds. The officer does not identify himself as a police officer in the video.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Jefferson told her nephew she heard someone outside moments before the shooting, so she got her handgun from her purse and pointed it out a window.

Two days after the shooting, Dean resigned from the department, and just hours after his resignation, he was arrested and later released after posting a $200,000 bond. Two months later, Dean was indicted on murder charges. Dean, now 38, had pleaded not guilty in this case.

The much-anticipated trial began with jury selection in November after being delayed multiple times. The jury of 12 people plus two alternates included eight men and six women, none of whom were Black. Jurors had the option to find Dean guilty of manslaughter instead of murder in their deliberations.

Despite the guilty verdict, some of Jefferson’s supporters felt that justice was not served. Immediately following the announcement, a woman could be heard repeatedly screaming, “It was murder!” in the courthouse hallway.

“Manslaughter is not enough,” Michael Bell told KXAS-TV. “He’s still convicted of a crime, which is major in Tarrant County. … But he has not, he should have been found guilty of murder and there’s no reason for him not to be found guilty.”

The jurors heard from witnesses, experts, and members of Jefferson’s family. Key questions throughout the trial were whether Jefferson was justified in pulling her gun from her purse and whether Dean saw Jefferson’s gun before he shot her.

One of Dean’s defense attorneys, Miles Brissette, said during opening statements that Dean saw a silhouette of someone holding a gun in the window. The weapon, according to Brissette, was pointed directly at Dean.

Prosecutor Ashlea Deener said that “he did not see the gun in her hand,” according to ABC News. “This is not a justification. This is not a self-defense case. This is murder.”

The prosecution has argued that Jefferson did not know who was outside of her home and, thus, was justified in grabbing her gun to protect herself and her nephew.