FORT WORTH, Texas — The trial for a former Fort Worth police officer who shot and killed a woman in her home has been scheduled for December after being postponed and rescheduled multiple times.
Aaron Dean shot Atatiana Jefferson inside her Fort Worth home in October 2019. He is charged with murder.
The judge who was initially assigned to oversee the trial, Judge David Hagerman, was removed from the case in June. Dean’s defense team argued that Hagerman’s impartiality in the case might reasonably be questioned and that he holds a personal bias or prejudice against Dean attorney Bob Gill. Retired Second Court of Appeals Justice Lee Gabriel granted the motion.
The case was transferred to 396th District Court and Judge George Gallagher.
On Thursday, the court announced the following schedule in the case, which has had continuous delays that have been met with frustration in the community:
— Nov. 14: Jury questionnaire finalized.
— Nov. 16 through Nov. 18: Final pretrial hearings.
— Nov. 28 through Dec. 2: Jury voir dire (jury selection).
— Dec. 5: Trial begins.
Hagerman had moved the trial three times previously — twice to grant motions of continuance from the defense. The trial was also delayed in January because defense attorney Jim Lane is seriously ill and could not participate in the case.
A grand jury indicted Dean on a murder charge after he fatally shot Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, through a window at her family’s home.
Jefferson’s neighbor James Smith had called the police and asked for a welfare check on the house because a front door was open. Dean and another officer parked around the corner from the home and walked into the backyard.
Inside, Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew when she thought she heard someone in the yard. She grabbed a handgun from her purse and pointed it toward the window, according to an arrest warrant affidavit supporting Dean’s arrest.
Dean, who is 37 and white, did not identify himself as a police officer and shot Jefferson within seconds of seeing her through the window, according to body-worn camera video. Two days later, he resigned from the police department and was arrested the same day.
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(This story contains information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.)
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