Police chief: ‘No excuse’ for Fort Worth woman’s death

Officer arrested on murder charge

FORT WORTH, Texas — The furor Tuesday over the killing of a black woman by a white Fort Worth officer became increasingly about a gun pointed at a bedroom window. But the police chief and activists said the focus was on the wrong gun.

Officer Aaron Dean was arrested on a murder charge Monday in the slaying of Atatiana Jefferson. Police released an arrest warrant Tuesday quoting the victim’s 8-year-old nephew as saying Jefferson had pulled out a gun after hearing suspicious noises behind her house.

Black politicians and others criticized the police and the media for bringing up Jefferson’s weapon, angrily accusing the department of trying to deflect blame onto an innocent victim.

“The Fort Worth Police Department is going about the task of providing a defense for this officer,” said Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Jefferson family.

Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus himself declared there was “absolutely no excuse” for the killing and said Jefferson behaved as any Texas homeowner would have on hearing a prowler. It wasn’t clear from the warrant whether Dean even saw her weapon through the glass.

The killing early Saturday shocked people across the U.S. and led many black people to wonder once more whether they are no longer safe from police in their homes. Earlier this month, a white former Dallas officer was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison for killing a black neighbor in his own apartment. She said she mistook his place for hers and thought he was an intruder.

Dean, 34, resigned and was arrested Monday for firing a single bullet through a windowpane while investigating a neighbor’s report about the front door being left open at Jefferson’s home. Jefferson was staying up late, playing video games with her nephew.

Police bodycam video showed Dean making his way around the side of the house into the backyard in the darkness and opening fire a split second after shouting at the 28-yearold Jefferson to show her hands. He did not identify himself as a police officer.

In the arrest warrant, Jefferson’s nephew said his aunt had taken a gun from her purse and pointed it at the window.

TOM FOX/THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS Lynda Menefee makes the sign of the cross after leaving flowers on the sidewalk of Atatiana Jefferson’s home in Forth Worth, Texas, on Tuesday.