Att’y slams cop in new Texas tragedy

A black woman fatally shot by a white Texas police officer early Saturday was yet another “law-abiding citizen” killed in their home, a lawyer said, as the Fort Worth Police Department admitted Sunday the cop did not identify himself before opening fire.

Lee Merritt alleges that Fort Worth cops did not have time to perceive a threat when Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was killed. The lawyer also represents the family of Botham Jean, who was murdered by white police officer Amber Guyger in his Dallas apartment last year. Guyger is serving 10 years behind bars in that case.

“A North Texas cop just murdered another law-abiding citizen in their home,” Merritt tweeted Saturday. “Her name was #AtatianaJefferson ‘Tay.’ She was playing video games with her 8y/o nephew, when they heard a noise in the backyard. When Tay went to investigate, she was shot to death.”

Jefferson (photo), was killed at around 2:30 a.m. after a neighbor called a police nonemergency line to report that the front door was open. Surveillance video shows two officers searching the home from the outside with flashlights before one shouts, “Put your hands up, show me your hands.” A shot is then fired through the window.

The Fort Worth Police Department said in a statement Sunday that officers saw someone near a window and that one of them drew his weapon after “perceiving a threat.”

Merritt disputes that, telling The Associated Press that “you didn’t hear the officer shout, ‘Gun, gun, gun’ ” in the video.

“He didn’t have time to perceive a threat,” he said. “That’s murder.”

Cops say they found a gun in the bedroom in the Fort Worth home. Merritt said it was “reckless and irresponsible” to release a photo of the weapon.

“It’s something the community has seen over and over again where the character of the victim gets called into question,” Merritt told reporters, according to TV station KXAS. “There was nothing nefarious or illegal about owning a firearm and they presented in nowhere that firearm was contributory towards the use of deadly force here.”

“She didn’t do anything wrong, but she’s inside of her home, trying to protect her home and my son that’s inside. She’s not a threat. She’s a college graduate,” Jefferson’s sister Amber Carr told KXAS. “You want to see justice, but justice don’t bring my sister back.”

Aunt Venitta Body said the family does not understand why Jefferson was killed.

“It’s like from the moment we got the call, it’s been more and more inconceivable and more confusing,” she told the TV station. “And there has nothing been done in order to take away that confusion.”

Merritt said the family expects “a thorough and expedient investigation.”

The police officer who fired the shot is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation. He has been on the force since April 2018.

During a press conference Sunday, Fort Worth police said the department shares the public’s “very real and valid concerns.”

Police added that the involved officer will be interviewed on Monday by the major case unit.