Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was found guilty of murder Tuesday in last year’s fatal shooting of her upstairs neighbor in his apartment.
Guyger, who was fired after the shooting, said that she mistook Botham Jean’s apartment for her own after parking on the wrong floor at the complex on Sept. 6, 2018.
The guilty verdict came one day after the jury began deliberations.
Guyger testified during the trial that she was afraid that someone had broken into the apartment and feared for her life when she saw someone walk toward her in the dark.
A prosecutor called her claims “absurd” during closing arguments, while a defense lawyer admitted that she made a “series of horrible mistakes.”
“It’s not a mistake. It’s a series of unreasonable decisions,” Assistant District Attorney Jason Fine told the jury.
Fine argued that Guyger missed significant clues that would have told her it was not her apartment, including his red doormat and the apartment sign.
Defense lawyer Toby Shook had told the jury to think “coolly and calmly,” and said Guyger “made a series of horrible mistakes.”
Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, was eating a bowl of vanilla ice cream in his living room when he was killed, according to prosecutors. He was not armed.
“I hate that I have to live with this every single day of my life and I ask God for forgiveness, and I hate myself every single day,” the 31-year-old Guyger testified during the trial.
Fine later ridiculed her testimony as “garbage.”
Breaking News: Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger found guilty of murder was originally published on thebuzzcincy.com
