Updated: Monday, Sept. 10, 2018; 4:36 p.m. EDT: To hear Amber Guyger tell the story, she apparently shot and killed 26-year-old Botham Shem Jean because the young man ignored her “verbal commands”…after she was the one who barged into the wrong apartment last Thursday evening, authorities say.
According to the AP, an arrest affidavit released on Monday showed that Guyger did not even realize she was in the wrong apartment until after she shot Jean and then went into the hallway to check the address…which is…ridiculous to say the least.
The question still remains as to how Guyger even got the wrong apartment, and why she only felt the need to double check
after she shot and killed a man. Also, the framing of Jean ignoring “verbal commands” is beyond problematic. Guyger had no reason to be in Jean’s apartment, there is no reason he should be required to obey any commands.
Updated: Monday, Sept. 10, 2018; 4:08 p.m. EDT: The case against Dallas Police officer Amber Guyger is not quite over yet, even as she faces manslaughter charges for the fatal shooting of 26-year-old Botham Shem Jean.
Authorities announced on Monday that Guyger could face mores serious charges as the investigation into the senseless shooting, which occurred after Guyger apparently mistakenly entered Jean’s apartment, continues.
The New York Times reports that Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson noted that the case will be presented to a grand jury after all evidence has been collected, adding that her office could seek charges “including anything from murder to manslaughter.”
“What I’m telling you is that the case is now in the hands of the Dallas County district attorney,” Johnson said at a news conference on Monday. “We’ll present a thorough case to the grand jury so that a right decision can be made.”
Johnson reportedly hinted that her office and the Texas Rangers had a “spirited debate” before they sought an arrest warrant for manslaughter in Guyger’s case. Johnson noted that the Texas Rangers coordinated Guyger’s booking and recommended the manslaughter charge.
“We had our views and at the end of that conversation, the Texas Rangers made the decision that it would be manslaughter,” she said. “I’m not challenging them on their viewpoint, and they did a great job.”
That being said, one can’t help but wonder if Guyger would have been only facing manslaughter charges (for now) if she had been a regular, run-of-the-mill citizen who had entered the wrong apartment before shooting and killing its rightful occupant.
To top it all off, S. Lee Merritt, a lawyer representing the Jean family, also questioned why it took so long for authorities to take Guyger into custody, with more than a day passing before a warrant was issued for her arrest.
“We don’t want it lost on anyone that, had this been a regular citizen, she would have never left the crime scene,” Merritt said.
Nonetheless (and perhaps sadly), it is still considerable progressed that prosecution has even gone as far as it has in this case, so we’ll just continue to monitor and see what other charges come from it.
Earlier:
The Dallas police officer who shot and killed a black man after she entered into his apartment after allegedly mistaking it for her own has finally been identified, arrested and charged with manslaughter.
Perhaps there is such a thing as justice after all.
Amber Guyger, the officer involved was booked into the Kaufman County Jail on Sunday on manslaughter charges, before posting her $300,000 bond and being released, CBSDFW reports.
Guyger, a four-year veteran with the Dallas Police Department, returned to the apartment complex where she lived late Thursday night and, according to the story police gave, mistook 26-year-old Botham Jean’s apartment for her own. She shot and killed the young man, a native of St. Lucia, who studied at Harding University and worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in his own unit.
Jean’s family arrived in Dallas on Saturday morning and met with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, before going to a vigil held in the young man’s honor at his church.
“Botham loved God. Botham loved you. Botham loved mankind. Botham never saw color, race. Botham wanted all of us to unite,” his mother Allison Jean, said. Lee Merritt, the attorney who is representing the Jean family in the case said that he had new evidence in the case but could not release it publicly.
The Texas Rangers, who are in charge of the ongoing investigation, are still looking into exactly what happened when Jeans was killed and what led to the shooting. No additional information has been as of Sunday, however Rawlings released a statement Sunday evening noting:
“I want to thank the Texas Rangers for thoroughly investigating this tragic case from the moment the Dallas Police Department requested that they take over on Friday morning. I am grateful to Dallas Police Chief Renee Hall for her leadership and foresight in calling for the Rangers to handle the investigation to ensure there was no appearance of bias. I also greatly appreciate that our citizens and community leaders were so respectful of the investigative process over these past few days. Please continue to pray for the family of Botham Jean tonight and in the weeks and months ahead.”