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By: Nate Morris, senior editor
DALLAS, TX – Amber Guyger, the white Dallas police officer who shot and killed Botham Jean in his own apartment last month, has been charged with murder by a Texas grand jury.
The grand jury, which was asked by the district attorney to consider a manslaughter charge, not only proceeded in indict Guyger with a crime, but increased those charges.
Jean, who was a native of St. Lucia, was killed in his apartment at the South Side Flats in Dallas on September 6th. The 26 year old was apparently in his own home when Guyger, who also lived in the same complex, attempted to enter his apartment thinking it was her own.
According to police reports, Jean “confronted the officer at the door”. A neighbor then reported hearing “an exchange of words, immediately followed by at least two gunshots”.
The story gripped the nation amid a rash of high-profile police shootings of unarmed Black men, including Stephon Clark who was killed by Sacramento police in his grandmother’s backyard.
Officer Guyger was not arrested in Jean’s killing for 72 hours after the shooting, and remained on the Dallas police force for another two weeks following her arrest.
A date has not yet been set for Guyger’s murder trial.