Atatiana Jefferson, a pre-medical graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana, was fatally shot through a rear window of her home in 2019. The police officer, Aaron Dean, was found guilty of manslaughter Thursday. 

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The jury had also considered a murder charge against Dean but instead convicted him of manslaughter. The conviction comes more than three years after the white Fort Worth officer shot Jefferson, a Black woman, while responding to a call about an open front door.

Dean is 38 years old. He faces up to 20 years in prison, with the sentencing phase of his trial set to begin Friday. He had faced up to life in prison if convicted of murder. The former officer, who had been free on bond, was booked into the Tarrant County jail following the verdict.

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He had pleaded not guilty to murder, a charge which carried a possible sentence of five to 99 years.

The primary dispute during the testimony and arguments was whether Dean knew Jefferson was armed when he shot her. Dean testified that he saw her weapon; prosecutors alleged the evidence showed otherwise.

Who was Atatiana Jefferson?

Atatiana Jefferson was playing video games, taking care of her nephew and left the doors open to vent smoke from hamburgers the boy burned. 

Jefferson was a 28-year-old woman. She lived in Fort Worth, Texas. She was a pre-medical graduate of Xavier University of Louisiana.

Body camera footage released by Fort Worth PD showed that officers came into Atatiana’s home and killed her. Her, then 8 years old, nephew Zion witnessed the incident. 

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All about Atntiana’s family: Father Marquis, mother Yolanda Carr, sister Amber Carr

Marquis A. Jefferson, Atatiana Jefferson’s father, died weeks after her killing. He was 59. He suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to a hospital in Dallas

A Dallas County judge had granted him a temporary restraining order, giving him full authority to make arrangements for his daughter’s funeral and burial.

Yolanda Carr, Atatiana Jefferson’s mother, died early in 2020. Her lawyer Lee Merritt said she had been hospitalized for weeks due to congestive heart failure.