A former Texas police officer was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years and 10 months in prison for manslaughter in the shooting death of a woman.
The jury could have sentenced Dean to 20 years in prison, or they could have sentenced him to a year of supervised release. He was sentenced by the same jury that found him guilty of manslaughter.
A black woman was shot by a white officer while responding to a call. He was found guilty of killing someone who was also armed with a gun.
The main issue was whether Dean knew Jefferson was armed. Dean said that he saw her weapon.
Jefferson was shot by Dean after a neighbor reported that the front door was open. They left the doors open to let the smoke from the hamburgers the boy burnt escape.
Dean was arrested after the Fort Worth Police Department released video of the shooting and public outrage. He quit the force after completing the police academy.
The case was repeatedly delayed due to lawyerly wrangling, the terminal illness of Dean's lead attorney and the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Dean and a second officer who responded to the call didn't identify themselves as police Dean and Carol Darch went to the backyard to look for signs of forced entry after they thought the house might have been broken into.
Dean fired a shot through the window after shouting at Jefferson to show her hands.
Dean said he had no choice when Jefferson pointed the gun at him. He admitted that his actions before and after the shooting were not good police work.
Darch's back was to the window when Dean shot, but she testified that he never mentioned seeing a gun before he pulled thetrigger and didn't say anything about the weapon as they rushed in.
Dean admitted on the witness stand that he didn't give Jefferson first aid because he saw the gun on the floor.
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