Dec. 5 (UPI) — Opening arguments for the trial of a white former police officer in Texas who killed a Black woman inside her home in 2019 that sparked racial protests started Monday without any Black jurors.
Former Fort Worth officer Aaron Dean faces murder charges in the death of Atatiana Jefferson, who was shot while he arrived at her mother’s home during a welfare check. The trial had been delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and a change of judges.
Dean was outside the home when he fired into a window killing Jefferson, who was inside the home after the officer yelled, “Put your hands up. Let me see your hands.”
Jefferson’s nephew, who was inside the home at the time of the shooting, had told police Jefferson “heard noises coming from outside and she took her handgun from her purse.” According to his affidavit, he said she then pointed it toward the window, then she was shot.
Fort Worth Police admitted that neither Dean nor his partner ever identified themselves as police officers before the shooting. The officer’s body camera video showed him firing within seconds of seeing Jefferson in the window.
The case sparked protests within the Black community locally but out of 200 potential jurors and two alternates, no African Americans were selected.
Dean’s lead counsel Jim Laine died the day before jury selection started. The court said it will work a half-day on Monday to follow people to attend Lane’s funeral that afternoon.
