A jury deliberating on the punishment for a former Texas police officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson through a back window of her home in 2019 was found guilty of manslaughter last week. The jury debated for more than seven hours on Monday.
Sentence
Prosecutors asked for a 20-year jail sentence for Aaron Dean, 38, during final statements in the sentencing phase. However, the jury also has the option to sentence him to probation, which is what the defendant’s defense requested.
The same jury that found him guilty of manslaughter on Thursday will also decide on his punishment. At around 10 a.m., the jury began debating Dean’s sentence. Monday and departed the courtroom at about 5:30 p.m. On Tuesday, they will resume their deliberations after being sequestered.
The 28-year-old Black lady was shot by the white Fort Worth police officer who had been called to a report of an open home door. His guilty decision was a rare instance in which an officer was found guilty of murdering someone who was also carrying a gun.
Trials
The main issue at trial was whether Dean was aware that Jefferson was carrying a weapon. Dean said he saw her weapon during his testimony, but the prosecution insisted the evidence proved otherwise.
On October 12, 2019, Dean shot Jefferson after a neighbor reported that Jefferson’s front door was open to a non-emergency police line. At the trial, it was revealed that she had been playing video games that evening with her 8-year-old nephew while they had left the doors open to let out smoke from hamburgers the child had burned.
