Ex-Dallas officer who shot man in his
home charged with murder
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[December 01, 2018]
By Alex Dobuzinskis
(Reuters) - A former Dallas police officer
was charged with murder on Friday for shooting an unarmed black neighbor
whose apartment she said she mistakenly entered instead of her own,
prosecutors said.
Amber Guyger, 30, surrendered to authorities after a grand jury indicted
her on a charge of murder in the Sept. 6 death of Botham Jean, 26,
Dallas County District Attorney's spokeswoman Kimberlee Leach said by
phone.
Guyger, who lived in an apartment one floor below Jean's unit, told
investigators she mistook Jean for an intruder after she entered his
apartment by mistake and he appeared in the darkness, police said.
Guyger walked into the apartment after returning from a work shift and
was able to enter because Jean's door was slightly ajar, according to a
Texas law enforcement account of the incident.
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The killing of an unarmed black man by a white officer in uniform
sparked demonstrations in the Texas city, with protesters calling for
Guyger, a four-year veteran of the Dallas police force, to be charged
with murder.
The shooting followed several years of scrutiny of law enforcement in
the United States over questions of racial bias.
An attorney for Guyger did not immediately return a call seeking
comment.
"We have taken the position from day one that we want to make sure that
justice is done for everybody and it's equal justice, it's not one-sided
or it's not blinded," Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson,
whose prosecutors presented evidence to the grand jury, said at a news
conference.
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![](../images/120118pics/news_f11.jpg)
Officer Amber Guyger appears in a booking photo provided by the
Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, September 10, 2018. Kaufman County
Sheriff's Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Guyger was arrested in September for shooting Jean and initially
charged with manslaughter, a lesser offense for an unlawful killing
that does not involve malice aforethought. She was released after
posting bond of $300,000.
The bond was re-instated after she was charged with murder, Leach
said.
Within days of the manslaughter charge, Johnson pledged to convene a
grand jury to more fully examine the shooting.
Jean's mother, Allison Jean, spoke at the news conference on Friday
alongside the district attorney.
"I look forward to the next step, which is a conviction of murder of
Amber Guyger and also of a penalty, the proper penalty, that will
cause her to reflect on what she has done," Allison Jean said.
Guyger was at first placed on administrative leave after shooting
Jean but was fired days later, with the Dallas police chief citing
her actions the night of the shooting and afterward.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; editing by Bill
Tarrant and Leslie Adler)
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