Aaron Dean, the 38-year-old former Forth Worth, Texas police officer, has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson.
Dean could have been found guilty of murder, but the jury took 13 hours to determine that Dead had killed Jefferson accidentally. He can face anywhere between two and 20 years behind bars.
Jefferson was killed by Dean in October 2019 when he was responding to a neighbour’s call in which said neighbour reported that the front door to Jefferson’s home was open.
When Dean went to the home to check if everything was fine, he saw a woman (Jefferson) at the window, and asked her to raise her hands and identify herself. When he saw Jefferson with a gun, the officer proceeded to shoot her to death.
Who is Aaron Dean?
Aaron Dean is a former police officer who worked for the Forth Worth Police Department in Texas. He has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of an African-American woman called Atatiana Jefferson, in October 2019.
Jefferson attended the Xavier University of Louisiana, from where he graduated in 2014, according to CNN who spoke to members of his family.
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During the trial, Dean said, “I thought we had a burglar and so I stepped back, straightened up and drew my weapon and then pointed it towards the figure,” adding, “I’m just looking right down the barrel of the gun and when I saw the barrel of that gun pointed at me, I fired a single shot from my duty weapon”.
When asked by the prosecution whether his actions on the day amounted to “good police work”, Dean answered in the negative.
He resigned days after the shooting and was later arrested.
