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Ex-Cop Convicted Of Murder Joked About MLK Jr.’s Death In Text Messages Read To Court
Amber Guyger also called herself a racist in another text message read to the jury during her sentencing for the murder of Botham Jean.
The former Dallas cop convicted Tuesday of killing her black, unarmed neighbor once joked about the death of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Prosecutors revealed a series of racist texts and comments as part of the sentencing phase for Amber Guyger, a white former police officer who was convicted of murder in the death of Botham Jean, a black man, after she went into the wrong apartment and shot the shocked accountant to death.
She testified last week that she believed she was in her own apartment, which was located one floor below, and thought Jean was an intruder.
In one message from Jan. 15, 2018, Guyger had been working at a parade in Dallas commemorating Martin Luther King Jr, according to ABC affiliate WFAA.
“When does this end lol,” a coworker texted her during the parade.
“When MLK is dead…oh wait…” Guyger responded back.
Later in the discussion, Guyger also complained about the length of the parade, noting it had been going on for nearly three hours and offered tips for how her coworker should handle the crowd.
“Just push them…or spray your pepper spray in that general area,” she wrote.
In another message, sent just days before Jean was killed, she was discussing the possibility of adopting a German Shepard dog.
“Although she may be racist,” the dog’s owner said in the message.
“It’s okay…I’m the same,” Guyger reportedly wrote back.
She went on to say that she hates “everything and everyone but y’all,” The Associated Press reports.
The state also pointed to another exchange she had with her former partner and one-time lover Martin Rivera.
“Damn I was at this area with 5 different black officers!!! Not racist but damn,” Rivera wrote her on March 9, 2018.
“Not racist but just have a different way of working and it shows,” Guyger wrote back.
Prosecutors presented the messages to a rapt jury, who is tasked with deciding whether Gugyer will be sentenced to anywhere from five years to a maximum of 99 years in prison for her murder conviction in Jean’s death.
Jean’s mother, Allison Jean, also took the stand to describe how her son’s death has impacted the family.
“My life has not been the same,” she said, according to CNN. “It’s just been like a roller coaster.”
She also spoke of the family’s deep Christian faith and Botham Jean’s own charity and mission work.
Guyger’s defense team is expected to present their witnesses today as the sentencing phase of the trial continues.
