Photo: Kaufman County Jail
Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer accused of fatally shootingher neighbor in his own apartmentwas indicted on murder charges Friday, PEOPLE confirms.
The indictment came three months after Guyger fatally shot Botham Jean, 26, on Sept. 6, after she returned home from work. Guyger hadinitially been charged with manslaughter.
The 30-year-old told investigators at the time she accidentally entered Jean’s Dallas apartment thinking it was hers and believedJean to be an intruder. Jean worked for PricewaterhouseCoopers and hailed from Saint Lucia. He was a graduate ofArkansas’ Harding University, his family told CNN.
Botham Shem Jean/Facebook
Though each apartment required a “unique door key, with an electronic chip” to gain access, Jean’s front door was “slightly ajar” when Guyger arrived and it opened “under the force” of her entering her key, the affidavit states.
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Inside, the apartment “was nearly completely dark,” Guyger told investigators, adding that when she saw Jean she assumed he was a burglar.
She said she drew her weapon and “gave verbal commands” to Jean that she said he ignored, the affidavit states. She then fired her service revolver twice, hitting Jean once in the torso.
According to theFort Worth Star-Telegram,Merritt told reporters he had two witnesses — sisters who lived in the complex — who allege they heard Guyger pounding on Jean’s front door in the moments before the gunfire.
Guyger had not yet entered a plea on her misdemeanor charge. Attorney information for her was unavailable Friday.
source: people.com
