Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted offatally shooting her neighbor,Botham Jean, after claiming she’d entered the wrong apartment in September 2018, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The 12-member jury reached a unanimous verdict on the woman’s sentence around 4 p.m. after deliberating for about 90 minutes,ABC News reports.Guyger had faced between five and 99 years behind bars.
Guyger, who is white, insisted she thought she was in her own apartment when she shot Jean, who is black, on Sept. 6, 2018, saying shebelieved he was an armed intruder.
In considering her sentence,jurors reviewed several racist and violent text messages and social media postingslinked to Guyger’s phone and social media accounts. In one such text exchange, Guyger admits she is racist.
During victim impact statements on Wednesday, Jean’s father, Bertrum Jean, cried on the witness stand as he remembered his son, saying he missed their weekly phone calls. “Sundays are not a good day for me because I’m not hearing his voice,” he said,according to ABC News. “How could we have lost Botham — such a sweet boy. He tried his best to live a good, honest life. He loved God. He loved everyone. How could this happen to him?”
Jean’s mother also took the stand on Tuesday, sharing the grief she has lived with every day since her son’s death.
During her seven-day trial, Guyger, 31, told jurors during her testimony that she mistakenly walked into 26-year-old Botham Jean’s apartment on Sept. 6, 2018, believing it was her own apartment.
“I was scared whoever was inside of my apartment was going to kill me, and I’m sorry,” Guyger testified during the trial as she sobbed, reportsThe Dallas Morning News. “I have to live with that every single day.”
After Guyger’s sentence was announced, onlookers began chanting, “No justice, no peace,” inside the hallway, theDallas Morning Newsreports.
Protesters who believe Guyger’s sentence is inadequate are reportedly planning to convene outside the courthouse this evening.
It was not immediately clear Wednesday if Guyger intends to appeal her conviction or sentence.
source: people.com
