DALLAS — The family of Botham Jean and former Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger are headed to court later this month over a wrongful death lawsuit.
In 2018, Guyger mistook Jean’s Cedars apartment for her own and fatally shot the 26-year-old accountant believing he was a burglar. A Dallas County jury found Guyger guilty of murder and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.
Jean’s family sued Guyger and the city of Dallas shortly after his killing. The federal lawsuit says Guyer used excessive force and violated Jean’s constitutional and civil rights, and poor police policies led to his death.
Here’s what to know before testimony begins on Nov. 18.
Botham Jean’s murder
Guyger lived on the third floor of the South Side Flats building, while Jean lived on the fourth. Guyger was off-duty but in her police uniform Sept. 6, 2018 when she entered Jean’s apartment and fired twice from her service weapon, according to testimony at her 2019 trial. Jean was eating ice cream on his couch.
Jean was a native of St. Lucia and dreamed of returning to run for prime minister. He was devoutly religious and had a deep interest in social justice. His murder prompted protests and outrage as another example of a white officer killing an unarmed Black man.
Guyger was fired from the Dallas Police Department a few weeks after the killing and initially jailed on a manslaughter charge. A grand jury later indicted her for murder.
Whether Guyger pulled the trigger wasn’t in dispute at her trial; rather jurors were tasked with deciding if the killing was a crime. Defense attorneys contended Guyger “firmly and reasonably” thought she was in her own apartment and that her life was in danger. In later appeals, Guyger argued that her mistaken belief she was in her apartment negated her culpability for murder and that she had the right to use deadly force in self defense.
Allegations in the suit
Jean’s family filed the federal lawsuit in October 2018, court records show. The 30-page suit says Guyger’s use of deadly force was not reasonable or justified. The suit also alleges Dallas police failed to supervise or discipline officers for excessive force.
“By simply following proper police procedures and the best police practices and not the protocol of the DPD to ‘shoot first and ask questions later’, Defendant Guyger would have not shot Jean,” the lawsuit says.
The document continues: “Essentially, Officer Guyger was ill-trained, and as a result, defaulted to the defective DPD policy: to use deadly force even when there exist [sic] no immediate threat of harm to themselves or others.”
A judge has since dismissed the city from the suit. The lawsuit does not seek a specific amount in damages, and Guyger is now the lone defendant, making a high-dollar settlement unlikely. Guyger — who is serving out her sentence in a Gatesville prison — does not have a lawyer and will not be in court for the trial, court documents show.
Daryl Washington, the family’s attorney, told The Dallas Morning News he hopes the civil trial will “send a message not just to Amber but to all police who use excessive force.”
“We hope bringing this case to trial can prevent another Botham from happening,” he said.
Washington expects the trial to last about a week in the downtown Dallas federal courthouse. A 14-person jury, including two alternates, was empaneled Nov. 7, according to court records.
Jean’s family also sued the apartment complex. That lawsuit was mediated and dismissed, according to Dallas County court records. Details of the settlement were not immediately known.
Parole efforts thwarted
Guyger was denied parole in October, The News previously reported. The ex-cop was eligible for release in September — on what would have been Jean’s 33rd birthday — after serving half of her 10-year sentence.
Jean’s family, the Dallas County district attorney’s office and more than 6,300 people who signed an online petition protested Guyger’s parole. According to an information portal on the state criminal justice department’s website, she was denied parole because the crime indicates “a conscious disregard for the lives, safety or property of others” and she “poses a continuing threat to public safety.”
Guyger will go before the parole board again in 2026.
©2024 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
