Dallas Cop Charged Days After Killing Man in Own Apartment

Amber Guyger faces manslaughter charge
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 10, 2018 3:36 AM CDT
Updated Sep 10, 2018 6:01 AM CDT
Officer Who Killed Man in His Home Arrested, Charged
Cynthia Johnson, Botham Jean's girlfriend, stands up as she is comforted by another churchgoer during a prayer service for Jean at the Dallas West Church of Christ on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018 in Dallas.   (Shaban Athuman/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

A Dallas police officer who killed a man in his home after entering the wrong apartment unit was arrested Sunday night—and the man's relatives, whose lawyer said Officer Amber Guyger was receiving favorable treatment, are wondering why it didn't happen sooner. The 30-year-old officer was arrested on a manslaughter charge and released on $300,000 bond after spending around an hour in jail, the Dallas Morning News reports. Investigators say Guyger has told them she shot 26-year-old accountant Botham Jean on Thursday night after mistaking his apartment in a downtown complex for her own, which was directly below it. Her blood was tested for drugs and alcohol but the results have not been disclosed.

Jean was a naturalized US citizen from St. Lucia, and civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt—who said earlier Sunday that there was enough evidence to arrest Guyger for manslaughter—believes race played a factor in the shooting. He tells the Washington Post that she fired after seeing a black man in what she thought was her apartment. "I have to believe ... her decision to use deadly force in the way that she did was influenced by the fact that she was standing in front of a black male and that our society has allowed law enforcement to use deadly force in unnecessary situations against black men with impunity," he says. CNN reports that Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings has asked for prayers for Jean's family and thanked the Texas Rangers, who have taken over the investigation. (More Dallas stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X