FORT WORTH, Texas — Former Fort Worth police Officer Aaron Dean told a Tarrant County jury Monday morning he saw a gun before he shot and killed a Black woman in her mother’s home more than three years ago.
Dean, who is white, killed 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson when he shot once into a window on Oct. 12, 2019, while responding to a call. One of the central issues for jurors is whether Dean saw Jefferson’s gun before he pulled the trigger. She grabbed the gun after hearing a noise in her backyard, according to testimony last week. Dean and a fellow officer did not identify themselves as police officers when they arrived at the home.
“I did see that weapon pointed at me,” Dean pleaded to jurors. “The gun was pointed directly at me.”
