Jury deliberating in Aaron Dean murder trial
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Former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean is on trial for a murder charge in the death of Atatiana Jefferson. Photo: Amanda McCoy/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Atatiana Jefferson had a right to have a gun inside her home the night she was shot and killed by a Fort Worth police officer in 2019, prosecutors argued Wednesday in closing arguments.
Driving the news: Jurors are now deliberating in the murder trial for Aaron Dean, who testified that he acted in self-defense when shot through a window, killing Jefferson.
- Defense attorneys argued that Jefferson's right to arm herself stopped when she pointed a gun at a uniformed police officer.
Why it matters: Police officers are rarely convicted of murder for on-duty shootings.
- At the heart of the Dean case is whether a jury believes a reasonable person in the officer's situation would have shot into the home.
The big picture: Black people are killed by officers at more than twice the rate of white people, according to databases that track police shootings in the U.S.
- Jefferson was Black and killed in a predominantly Black neighborhood in east Fort Worth. Dean is white.
What happened: Dean and another officer responded to a non-emergency call for a welfare check at Jefferson's house in October 2019, after a neighbor spotted the door open.
- The officers testified that they peered through the glass storm door at the front of the house and thought the place appeared "ransacked" and possibly burglarized. They arrived without police lights or sirens and did not knock or announce themselves, according to court testimony.
- Dean went through a gate into the backyard, shining a flashlight into a back window.
- Jefferson, 28, had been playing video games with her then-8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, when she heard noises in the back and pulled a gun from her purse, the boy testified.
- Dean shouted, "Show me your hands," according to body camera footage, and he testified that he saw a gun pointed at him before firing.
State of play: Prosecutors and defense attorneys agree that Jefferson had a gun when she was shot, but they disagree over whether she was justified in doing so. Defense attorney Bob Gill argued that Jefferson's actions were unlawful because she pointed a gun at Dean, who was a uniformed police officer.
- Prosecutor Dale Smith argued that Jefferson didn't know who was outside her home and was justified in protecting herself and her nephew.
What they're saying: "She was there to protect Zion. And that was all. Her only crime was the love and protection of her nephew," Smith said during closing arguments.
Of note: Defense attorneys Gill and Miles Brissette represented former Balch Springs officer Roy Oliver, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the murder of 15-year-old Jordan Edwards in Dallas County.
What we're watching: The jury was given the option to acquit or convict Dean of murder or a lesser charge of manslaughter, which would mean they found Dean acted recklessly.
- If convicted of murder, Dean faces up to life in prison. Manslaughter carries a sentence of up to 20 years.