Grieving Family Asks For Dallas Cop to Face Charges

A rep in the Botham Jean case wants Officer Amber Guyger 'treated like every other citizen'
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Sep 9, 2018 2:45 PM CDT
Lawyer Wants Dallas Cop Charged in Shooting
Dr. Pamela Grayson raises her fist as "Young King" Solomon Grayson, 6, peaks behind her sign during a Mothers Against Police Brutality candlelight vigil for Botham Jean.   (Shaban Athuman/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

The lawyer for the family of a man who was gunned down at his home by a Dallas police officer is calling for her to be arrested and charged, saying the fact that she remains free days after the shooting shows she's receiving favorable treatment. S. Lee Merritt, who is representing the family of 26-year-old Botham Jean, said Saturday that the family isn't calling on the authorities to jump to conclusions or to deny Officer Amber Guyger her right to due process. But Merritt, flanked by members of the family and Mothers Against Police Brutality, said they want Guyger "to be treated like every other citizen, and where there is evidence that they've committed a crime, that there's a warrant to be issued and an arrest to be made." Guyger, a four-year veteran of the police force, hadn't been charged as of Sunday morning, per the AP.

Police Chief U. Renee Hall said the day after the shooting that her department was seeking manslaughter charges against Guyger. But she said Saturday that the Texas Rangers asked her department to hold off because they had learned new information and wanted to investigate further before a warrant was issued. Police on referred questions to the Rangers. According to police, Guyger shot and killed Jean after returning in-uniform to the South Side Flats, where they both had apartments, following her shift. She reported the shooting to dispatchers and she told officers who responded that she had mistaken Jean's apartment for her own. Many questions remain about what led Guyger to shoot Jean. Hall said the officer's blood was drawn at the scene so that it could be tested for alcohol and drugs. Investigators haven't released the results of those tests.

(More police shooting 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