Trial to start for Texas cop who shot Black woman in home

FORT WORTH, Texas — A white former police officer is ready to go on trial Monday for fatally capturing a Black girl by means of a rear window of her Texas house whereas responding to a name about an open entrance door in a case that has confronted years of delays.

Fort Value Officer Aaron Dean stop and was charged with homicide two days after killing 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in October 2019. Jefferson had been enjoying video video games together with her then-8-year-old nephew, who later instructed authorities his aunt pulled out a gun after listening to suspicious noises behind the home. Physique-camera footage confirmed Dean did not establish himself as police.

On the time, the case was uncommon for the relative velocity with which, amid public outrage, the Fort Value Police Division launched the body-camera video and arrested Dean. Since then, his case has been repeatedly postponed amid lawyerly wrangling, the terminal sickness of his lead lawyer and the COVID-19 pandemic.

In contrast, former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin went on trial and was convicted of murdering George Floyd greater than 1 1/2 years in the past. But Floyd was killed some seven months after Jefferson, in a case that sparked world protests over racial injustice.

Dean, who has pleaded not responsible, has been free on $200,000 bond. Now 38, he’s charged with killing Jefferson on Oct. 12, 2019, after a neighbor known as a non-emergency police line to report that the entrance door to Jefferson’s house was open.

Bodycam video confirmed Dean approaching the door of the house the place Jefferson was caring for her nephew. He then walked across the aspect of the home, pushed by means of a gate into the fenced-off yard and fired by means of the glass a split-second after shouting at Jefferson, who was inside, to point out her palms.

Dean was not heard figuring out himself as police on the video and it is unclear whether or not he knew Jefferson was armed. That query and the potential testimony of one other officer who was there that night time are prone to be key factors at trial.

Jefferson was contemplating a profession in drugs and moved into her mom’s house months earlier than the capturing there to assist because the older girl’s well being declined.

Her killing shattered belief police had been making an attempt to construct with communities of shade in Fort Value, a metropolis of 935,000 about 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Dallas that has lengthy had complaints of racially unequal policing and extreme pressure.

The capturing drew swift rebuke from town’s then-police chief and Republican mayor, who on the time known as the circumstances “really unthinkable” and mentioned Jefferson having a gun was “irrelevant.”

Dean’s authorized group used these feedback in unsuccessful makes an attempt to maneuver the case from Fort Value, claiming media consideration and statements from public officers would bias the jury pool.

As jury choice was set to begin final week, Dean’s protection lawyer, Jim Lane, died. After years of delays, District Decide George Gallagher moved ahead anyway and, following days of questioning potential jurors, a panel of 12 jurors and two alternates was chosen Friday. Eight have been males, six girls and none of them gave the impression to be Black.

The opening day of Dean’s trial is ready to finish early so members can attend Lane’s funeral.

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Observe AP’s full protection of the killing of Atatiana Jefferson: https://apnews.com/hub/atatiana-jefferson