TEX. COP BUSTED ON SLAY CHARGE
‘Nothing to justify’ shoot of woman in home
Authorities brought a murder charge Monday against a white Texas police officer accused of shooting dead a 28-year-old black woman in her Fort Worth home.
Aaron Dean, 34, was jailed Monday afternoon, according to KDFW-TV. Bail was set at $200,000, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Monday evening. Dean posted bail around 9 p.m., local TV reported.
Dean resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department earlier Monday.
Atatiana Jefferson’s family expressed relief that Dean had been jailed in her slaying, but said much more had to be done to curb police violence.
“We need to see this through to a vigorous prosecution and appropriate sentencing,” the family said in a statement. “The city of Fort Worth has much work to do to reform a brutal culture of policing.”
Interim Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus said Dean would have been fired had he not quit.
“Nobody looked at this video and said that there’s any doubt that this officer acted inappropriately,” Kraus said during a Monday press conference.
Surveillance footage shows Dean shooting through the window of Jefferson’s home early Saturday after a neighbor had called police to say the front door was open. He did not identify himself as a police officer.
Jefferson’s 8-year-old nephew was in the home at the time.
Also denouncing Dean was the city’s mayor, Betsy Price, who called for “justice and closure” for Jefferson’s family.
“On behalf of the entire city of Fort Worth, I am sorry,” Price said. “To Atatiana’s family — I am sorry. There is nothing to justify or explain what happ pened on Saturday y Nothing.”
But Jefferson’s heartbroken family said an apology and a resignation were hardly enough. “Why this man is not in handcuffs is a source of continued agitation for this family and for this community,” said Jefferson family lawyer Lee Merritt.
“We are not looking for a slap on the wrist,” added community activist Cory Hughes. “We are demanding that he be charged like the criminal he is.”
Jefferson’s family said Monday that an agency other than the Fort Worth Police Department should be looking into the tragic series of events that took place at around 2:30 a.m. on Saturday. morning. g
“There is simply no justification for his actions,” sister Ashley Carr said, according to USA Today. “We demand justice for Atatiana through an independent and thorough investigation.”
Dean, whose identity was revealed Monday, has not cooperated with investigators, according to the police chief. He had been on the force for 18 months.
Even Dean’s union questioned the shooting.
“I feel like we had some failures here,” Fort Worth Police Officers Association President Sgt. Manny Ramirez said Monday. “It never should have happened.”
The fatal shooting took place just 11 days after former Dallas cop Amber Guyger was convicted for the murder of unarmed black man Botham Jean in his apartment.
“Unlike Botham Jean, I don’t want no hug,” Atatiana’s father Marquis Jefferson told TV station KTVT on Sunday. “That’s my one and only daughter. I’ll never forget that.”
Guyger had embraced Jean’s younger brother and the judge in the case after being sentenced to 10 years in prison earlier this month.