FORT WORTH, Texas — A jury has been chosen for the murder trial of former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean, which is scheduled to begin Monday in Tarrant County.
The attorneys and 396th District Court Judge George Gallagher agreed Friday morning on the final selection of 12 jurors and two alternates. Eight men and six women were chosen. None of the jurors is Black. The majority appear to be white; a few jurors appear to have other racial backgrounds.
The jury will decide whether Dean is guilty of a crime in the October 2019 shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson.
Opening statements are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Monday. Gallagher said he will rule at 8:30 a.m. Monday on the defense’s motion for a change of venue, which if approved, would move the trial out of Tarrant County. The defense filed that motion before the jury selection process, arguing that Dean could not receive a fair trial here.
A pool of about 200 potential jurors was narrowed down to 44 who returned to court Friday before the final panel was chosen. The jurors were picked after filling out a 25-page questionnaire on Monday and two days of individual questioning on Wednesday and Thursday to determine whether they could keep an open mind. The case has received extensive media coverage and sparked protests in the community over a white officer killing a Black woman in her home.
Jefferson, 28, had moved into her mother’s home on East Allen Avenue to help care for her mother as her health declined. On the night of the shooting, Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, who was the only witness inside the house.
A neighbor, James Smith, called a police non-emergency line about 2:25 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2019, after noticing doors open at the house, which he thought was unusual. Smith has said that his intent was for police to check on the welfare of the residents, but police classified the call as an open structure.
Dean and Officer Carol Darch responded to the home. Body-camera video released by the police department shows that Dean looked in the front door (which was open with the screen door closed), whispered to Darch, and walked along the driveway to the back of the house. He turned on his flashlight, walked through a gate into the backyard and stood next to a window.
Inside the house, according to the account Zion gave to a civilian forensic interviewer trained to question children, Jefferson told Zion “that she heard noises coming from outside and she took her handgun from her purse.”
Zion said, “Jefferson raised her handgun, pointed it toward the window, then Jefferson was shot and fell to the ground,” according to an affidavit supporting the warrant for Dean’s arrest.
The video shows Dean raise his handgun with his right hand while pointing the flashlight toward the window with his other hand.
Dean yells, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” and then immediately pulls the trigger, the video shows, firing once. He did not identify himself as an officer, according to police.
According to court documents, both officers went into the house, where Dean administered CPR while Darch took Zion outside. Jefferson died at the scene.
Two days later, Dean, then 34 years old, resigned from the police department and was arrested.
Family members and protesters have called for justice in the case over the past three years as the trial has been delayed multiple times by the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduling issues with witnesses, and the recusal of original trial judge David Hagerman.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks. Monday will be a half day because the funeral of defense attorney Jim Lane is scheduled that afternoon.
Legal experts believe the case will hinge on whether jurors believe Dean’s actions were reasonable under the state’s self-defense law.
Gallagher said that Dean has already told the court that if he is found guilty, he wants the jury to decide his punishment. He was required by law to make that decision before the trial begins. Dean’s attorneys also filed a document requesting that the jury give him probation if he is convicted.
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