Door lock data may hold key

DALLAS: The electronic locks to Botham Jean and Amber Guyger’s apartment doors could hold the evidence investigators need to contradict or confirm what the Dallas officer told police about how she entered her neighbour’s apartment the night he was shot and killed.

The Dallas County district attorney’s office seized the locks from Apartments 1478 and 1378 at the South Side Flats, where Jean lived on the fourth floor and Guyger lived on the third, just below him. She has since moved out.

Guyger (30) killed Jean on September 6 when she said she parked on the wrong floor and mistook Jean’s apartment for her own.

The officer, who was off duty but in uniform, said she pushed open the door to the darkened apartment and, believing Jean was a burglar, fired two shots.

One bullet struck the 26yearold in the chest, and he died at a hospital.

A search warrant obtained on September 11 granted the district attorney’s office permission to access any data stored inside the locks. Law enforcement also obtained reports about access to locks in both apartments and to the elevators. The contents have not been made public.

The report should show whether Guyger unlocked her own door before going to Jean’s apartment. It would also show whether she placed her key in Jean’s door. — TNS