A former Texas police officer was convicted of manslaughter Thursday for fatally shooting a Black woman through a rear window of her home in 2019, a rare conviction of an officer for killing someone also armed with a gun.
Jurors found Dean not guilty of murder but convicted him of manslaughter in the death of Atatiana Jefferson. The conviction comes more than three years after the white Fort Worth officer shot the 28-year-old woman while responding to a call about an open front door.
Dean, 38, faces up to 20 years in prison on the manslaughter conviction. He had faced up to life in prison if convicted of murder. The judge told jurors Wednesday that they could also consider a manslaughter charge.
The Tarrant County jury returned the verdict after more than 13 hours of deliberation over two days. That followed six days of testimony and arguments in which the primary dispute was whether Dean knew Jefferson was armed when he shot her. Dean testified that he saw her weapon; prosecutors alleged the evidence showed otherwise.
