Aaron Dean, a former Fort Worth police officer who was convicted of manslaughter last week for shooting 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson through her bedroom window in 2019, was sentenced yesterday to nearly 12 years in prison. The case is a rare example of a situation in which a cop was not only charged but successfully prosecuted for the wrongful use of deadly force. As such, it suggests the sort of circumstances that are necessary to achieve that outcome.
Around 2:20 a.m. on Saturday, October 12, 2019, Fort Worth police received a "welfare call" on a non-emergency line from one of Jefferson's neighbors, who was concerned that the front door to Jefferson's house was open. Jefferson, who was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew that night, had opened the door to dissipate smoke from burned hamburgers. The dispatcher described the call as an "open structure" report, which could indicate a burglary. Dean and his partner took the call.
