Lawyer: Dallas cop who killed man at home should be charged

The lawyer for the family of a man who was gunned down at his home by a Dallas police officer is calling for her to be arrested and charged, saying the fact that she remains free days after the shooting shows she’s receiving favorable treatment.

S. Lee Merritt, who is representing the family of 26-year-old Botham Jean, said Saturday that the family isn’t calling on the authorities to jump to conclusions or to deny Officer Amber Guyger her right to due process. But Merritt, flanked by members of the family and Mothers Against Police Brutality, said they want Guyger ”to be treated like every other citizen, and where there is evidence that they’ve committed a crime, that there’s a warrant to be issued and an arrest to be made.”

Guyger, a four-year veteran of the police force, hadn’t been charged as of Sunday morning, according to city of Dallas and Dallas County online records. The police department released her name Saturday night, which was two nights after she shot and killed Jean.

Police Chief U. Renee Hall said the day after the shooting that her department was seeking manslaughter charges against Guyger. But she said Saturday that the Texas Rangers, who have taken over the investigation, asked her department to hold off because they had learned new information and wanted to investigate further before a warrant was issued.