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Accused Dallas Cop, Victim’s Family Offer Very Different Accounts Of Deadly Apartment Shooting
Amber Guyger claims the apartment door was ajar and she only shot Botham Jean after he refused her verbal commands. Lawyers for his family say they've got witnesses that heard her knocking and screaming "Let me in!"
The family of a man who was fatally shot by a Dallas police officer after she mistakenly entered his home are disputing details provided in her arrest affidavit.
Officer Amber Guyger was arrested Sunday on a manslaughter charge for the death of Botham Jean.
An arrest affidavit that gives a narrative of what happened was released Monday. It appeared to be based almost entirely on the officer's account.
Attorneys for Jean's family say it's "self-serving" and contradicts neighbors' accounts.
The affidavit says Guyger mistook Jean's apartment for hers and that his front door was ajar when she entered. She also told investigators that she shot Jean after he refused her verbal commands.
An attorney for Jean's family, Lee Merritt, said at a news conference Monday evening that two independent witnesses have told him they heard knocking on the door in the hallway before the shooting.
He said one witness reported hearing a woman's voice saying, "Let me in! Let me in!" Then they heard gunshots, after which one witness said she heard a man's voice say, "Oh my God! Why did you do that?"
Merritt said he believes those were Jean's last words.
Another lawyer for the family, Benjamin Crump, said the affidavit "is very self-serving."
Guyger has been released on bond.
The Dallas Morning News reported that community activists organized a rally Monday to protest last week's shooting of Jean. Several dozen protesters blocked traffic as they marched about half a mile from police headquarters.
Jean, a native of Saint Lucia and a graduate of Harding University in Arkansas, worked at the Dallas office of PricewaterhouseCoopers, a tax and consulting service, according to the Dallas Morning News.
“The entire Harding family grieves today for the loss of Botham Jean, who has meant so very much to us," Harding University said in a statement.
Jean was the first son of Alison Jean, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, and Bertram Jean, a supervisor at WASCO, a water and sewer company on St. Lucia, according to the St. Lucia Times.
"He did no one any wrong," Alison Jean told NBC News. "Somebody has to be crazy not to realize that they walked into the wrong apartment. And if you try your key and it doesn't work, that should make you realize you're at the wrong apartment.”
She said everyone loved her son, and he loved them all right back.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
[Photo: Associated Press]
