A jury has found former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger guilty of murder, the judge announced Tuesday.
Guyger was indicted last year after fatally shooting her unarmed neighbor, Botham Jean, in his own apartment, which she said she mistook as hers.
There was applause and cheers after the jury left the courtroom.
This week, the trial of Amber Guyger is expected to reach its conclusion, entering its seventh day on Monday as Guyger’s attorneys continue their defense.
Jurors continued deliberations Tuesday morning in the trial of former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who killed a 26-year-old Jean in his own apartment last year.
The verdict follows a case that captured national attention and sparked outrage.
Guyger, who is white, testified that after working long hours on September 6, 2018, she returned to her Dallas apartment complex and approached what she thought was her apartment. She noticed the door was partially open, and pulled out her service weapon and shot a figure inside in the dark. It turned out she was at the apartment directly above hers — which belonged to Botham Jean, who was black — and she thought Jean was an intruder.
Tuesday morning, the panel had two questions for the court, according to attorneys for the Jean family, before they came back with a verdict.
Jurors asked for a definition of manslaughter and for additional information on the so-called castle doctrine — the legal notion that your home is your castle, and you have the right to use lethal force to defend your home and not retreat. They were allowed to consider the legal doctrine in the murder case.
The jury began deliberations in the trial Monday.
While race is a factor in public sentiment about the case, Judge Tammy Kemp would not allow it to be part of the debate in the courtroom and instructed the sequestered jurors to avoid outside influence on their decision.
Related:
Dallas police fire officer charged with fatally shooting man in his apartment
