Dallas police investigate death of witness
DALLAS – A man who testified in the murder trial of a white Dallas police officer who fatally shot her black neighbor was killed in a shooting, his attorney said.
Dallas police said they were investigating Friday night’s shooting that left one man dead and that authorities do not have a motive. Police have not released the victim’s name, but attorney Lee Merritt posted a statement on Twitter saying that Joshua Brown was the person who was killed.
Brown lived in the same apartment complex as Amber Guyger and Botham Jean and testified at Guyger’s trial, where she was convicted of murder on Tuesday.
Merritt said he had spoken with Brown’s mother and “she is devastated.” “We need answers,” Merritt wrote. Brown, 28, testified in Guyger’s trial about the September 2018 night that Jean was killed. Guyger was still in her police uniform after a long shift when, according to her trial testimony, she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own one floor below and shot him after pushing open his unlocked door and thinking he was a burglar.
Guyger, 31, was fired from the department soon after the shooting. She was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison.
The shooting that killed Brown happened at a different apartment complex. A statement said several witnesses flagged down officers who were responding to a call about the shooting.
Witnesses described hearing several gunshots, according to the news release, and saw a silver four-door sedan speeding off from the parking lot. No one else was shot.
Kimberly Leach, director of communications for the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, did not immediately reply to telephone and email requests Sunday from The Associated Press seeking comment about the case.