This archive report was first published on 28 September 2019.
Published on September 28, 2019, the trial of Amber Guyger, a former Dallas police officer, has been marked by contrasting portrayals of her actions on the night of the fatal shooting.
Prosecutors have painted Ms. Guyger as a distracted and callous killer who made little effort to assist the dying young man she had just shot. In contrast, her defense team has presented her as a tired but hard-working officer who mistakenly entered the wrong apartment.
Ms. Guyger testified that she was returning home from a long day of work when she drove into the parking garage and talked on the phone with her police partner, Martin Rivera. She claimed that she was still distracted by the conversation when she pulled into a parking spot on the wrong floor.
According to her account, Ms. Guyger walked down the fourth-floor hallway without encountering anyone or noticing anything amiss. She then entered the apartment, pulled out her gun, and called on the person inside to show their hands.
Botham Jean, the victim, started approaching her in a 'fast-paced walk,' shouting 'Hey, hey, hey,' according to her testimony. Ms. Guyger fired her weapon twice, striking Mr. Jean once in the torso.
She claimed that she was scared Mr. Jean was going to kill her, but prosecution witnesses disputed her account, stating that the trajectory of the bullet showed that Mr. Jean was either getting up from a seated position or was 'in a cowering position' hiding behind a three-foot wall inside his apartment when he was shot.
