In another tragic incident of a police shooting, an officer responding to a call has reportedly shot and killed a woman inside her home in Fort Worth, Texas.
The police was initially alerted that the door to Atatiana Koquice Jefferson‘s home was wide open by a 911 caller, prompting the response and the eventual shooting.
Officers were reportedly scouting around the home when they saw someone standing near a window inside. An officer immediately opened fire, killing the woman on the spot.
The officer involving in the killing, Aaron Dean, was quick to resign before he could be fired by the heads of the Fort Worth Police Department. Authorities have released bodycam footage of the incident.
Still, many have criticized the police for heavily editing the video before making it public, leading to speculation that the incident is being misrepresented to a large extent.
Indeed, some parts of the footage have been brought under question by observers, and it remains unclear why the officer decided that the most appropriate course of action would be to shoot an unidentified person inside an unknown home.
This is yet another similar incident in a very short period, and there has been a noticeable trend of growing discontent with the actions of police officers in the public sphere.
There have been various discussions about inappropriate conduct, and it looks like more and more people have started to call for harsh punishments of officers stepping out of line in such outrageous ways.
Lee Merritt, a lawyer for the family, has demanded that an outside agency should be brought in to investigate the killing.
Merritt told CNN: “We don’t think that Fort Worth police should be investigating it on their own.”
He also said this via Twitter: “We need to see this through to a vigorous prosecution & appropriate sentencing. The City of Fort Worth has much work to do to reform a brutal culture of policing.”
However, this seems to be an uphill battle with a lot more to happen before the public could see any movement on any of those ideas.
Jefferson, who was a pre-med graduate of the Xavier University of Louisiana, was laid to rest, and her family is currently embroiled in a legal battle over the money raised via GoFundMe.
Merritt has collected over $250,000 thanks to “Justice for Atatiana Jefferson” GoFundMe account.
Judge David Hagerman has issued publicity restrictions in the trial against the former cop. A grand jury has to decide whether to indict Dean in the murder.
The restrictions were put in place over concerns about information potential jurors may hear.
Hagerman wrote: “The Court finds there is a possibility that jurors may be inadvertently exposed to prejudicial publicity if an order restricting publicity is not entered in this case.”
The publicity restrictions also concern the lawyers. Similar restrictions were put in place in the trial against Amber Guyger by a Dallas County judge.
Merritt worked with Botham Jean‘s family.
