Aaron Dean was convicted of manslaughter in Atatiana Jefferson’s death

• A former Texas officer was found convicted of manslaughter.
• He shot a Black woman through a window in her house.
• She was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew.

A former Texas officer was found convicted of manslaughter Thursday for shooting a Black woman through a window in her house in October 2019.

Aaron Dean, a white Fort Worth police officer, shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson, 28, as she played video games with her 8-year-old nephew. Dean responded to Jefferson’s residence after a neighbor reported an open door at 2 a.m.

After 13 hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Dean of murder. A manslaughter conviction carries 2-20 years in jail. During the punishment phase, the jury will hear from prosecutors and Dean’s defense team.

“Today’s verdict delivers a measure of justice, but it doesn’t change the fact that a tragedy occurred,” Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said.

“This tragedy has always been about Atatiana Jefferson’s life as a daughter, sister, and aunt,” Parker added. “We must show compassion and grace to our grieving neighbors. We pray for the jury at sentencing.”

Tarrant County prosecutor Ashlea Deener said Jefferson acted reasonably and within her rights to protect herself and her nephew, Zion Carr, when she heard noises outside her home in the middle of the night and grabbed her revolver.

“Atatiana’s actions haven’t been proven illegal. The contrary was true “saying, “Atatiana Jefferson didn’t commit a crime by approaching the window with her revolver. We’d all do it. We would do that to protect ourselves and Zion.”

Bob Gill, Dean’s defense attorney, stated that while Jefferson’s death was tragic, “a tragedy doesn’t always equal a crime” and the former cop shot Jefferson in self-defense after seeing a pistol in the window.

Gill said Jefferson could protect herself and her home “until she aimed a gun at a Fort Worth officer.”

Gill said Dean’s testimony mirrored what Zion told a forensic interviewer after the shooting: that his aunt waved a gun at the window. Zion testified that his aunt’s gun was by her side when she was shot.

Zion stated the front and side doors were open because they burned dinner. He also testified that Jefferson got out her lawfully owned revolver after hearing noises outside and fearing an intruder.

Dean claimed he was responding to a burglary when he observed a figure in Jefferson’s window.

“I assumed we had a burglar, so I stepped back, straightened up, and drew my pistol,” he claimed.

He said he couldn’t see the person’s hands and yelled for Jefferson to raise her hands before seeing a revolver.

Dean testified, “I was looking down the barrel of the gun when I fired a shot from my duty firearm.”

Prosecutors say trial evidence shows Dean didn’t see Jefferson with a gun. Prosecutors claimed Dean’s actions revealed he wasn’t sure what he saw in the window before shooting Jefferson, and evidence showed Jefferson was hunched down, not pointing a gun at Dean.

Prosecutor R. Dale Smith cast doubt on Dean’s testimony about seeing a gun before shooting Jefferson, saying that after Dean shot her, he continued to stand in front of the window and didn’t tell his partner when they entered the home that he had seen a weapon “because he wasn’t sure what was on the other side of that window.”

“What officer would let a partner dash into a residence where they suspected a burglary without saying, “Hey, there’s a gun in there?” “Smith?”

He said, “He never mentioned a gun because he didn’t know.”

Dean said muzzle flare blinded him after shooting Jefferson. When his vision cleared, he saw Miss Jefferson. I saw her fall after hearing her scream.

Smith questioned Dean’s ability to shoot into the home with only 1 minute, and 17 seconds between turning on his camera and shooting Jefferson.

Dean acknowledged that he did not introduce himself as a police officer when he arrived, stating he felt there was an active burglary and it was “common procedure” not to proclaim in such cases. He then revealed to Smith that he’d done so at another burglary site.

Dean consistently answered “no” when asked if his actions and choices that night constituted “excellent police work.”

Prosecutors say Dean shot Jefferson “barely a second” after telling her to raise her hands, without allowing her time to think and comply.

Both sides invited law enforcement experts to testify concerning Dean’s behavior, whether he should have declared himself, and whether he might have prevented Jefferson’s death.

The 2019 incident sparked calls for police accountability and racial justice.

Dean resigned from the police department before his arrest and was indicted for murder in December 2019.

Jefferson studied chemistry at Louisiana’s Xavier University. After college, she helped her family with health concerns and planned to attend medical school.

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