Amber Guyger

Amber Guyger is a former Dallas, Texas patrol officer who murdered African-American man Botham Jean on Septembedr 6. 2018. She was found guilty of murder on October 1, 2019.

Background
On September 6, 2018, Guyger entered the Dallas apartment of Botham Jean, and shot and killed him. Guyger said that she had entered the apartment believing it was her own and shot Jean believing he was a burglar. Guyger's apartment was on the third floor, directly below Jean's apartment which was on the fourth floor, in a multi-apartment dwelling with mostly identical floor plans on each level. After she shot Jean she called 911. Jean was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died from his wound. The investigation was taken over by the Texas Rangers, who were responsible for Guyger's arrest three days later. Guyger was charged with manslaughter, a 2nd degree felony in Texas, which carries a sentence of 2 to 20 years in a state prison and/or a fine not to exceed $10,000. On September 24, Guyger was terminated from the police force, after being placed on administrative leave since the shooting.

Following the shooting, an attorney representing Jean's family accused the Dallas police department of smearing Jean's reputation. The lawyers also disputed the account of the incident that Guyger told officials, which was recorded in the arrest warrant affidavit, and asserted that two independent witnesses had come forward to give recollections that conflict with Guyger's account.

On November 30, 2018, Guyger was indicted on murder charges by a Dallas County grand jury.

On September 22, 2019, the day before the trial began, Dallas County District Attorney John Creuzot took part in an interview regarding the trial in spite of a gag order issued by Judge Tammy Kemp in January of that year. After questioning jurors, who reported that they had not seen the interview or other media coverage of the trial, Kemp denied the defense's motion for a mistrial, and sequestered the jury.

On October 1, 2019, Guyger was found guilty of murder. The jury deliberated for six hours to reach the verdict of murder. The jurors also considered the lesser charge of manslaughter. Guyger is the first Dallas police officer to be convicted of murder since the 1973 murder of Santos Rodriguez