DALLAS — Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth police officer sentenced to prison Tuesday for the on-duty killing of Atatiana Jefferson is in Texas’ prison system.
Dean arrived Wednesday at an intake facility in Huntsville, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Robert Hurst said. He will undergo a standard evaluation before being assigned to one of the state’s prisons, Hurst said.
Dean’s trial ended Tuesday when a Tarrant County jury sentenced him to 11 years, 10 months and 12 days in prison. Dean must serve half that time before becoming eligible for parole.
The same jury convicted Dean of manslaughter last week. Prosecutors had sought a murder conviction, and Jefferson’s family was disappointed with the outcome. But they found symbolism in the sentence. Jefferson’s nephew, who witnessed the shooting, was 11 years old when he testified during the trial. The day Dean shot Jefferson was Oct. 12, 2019.
Jurors did not say how they reached their verdict.
Jefferson was a 28-year-old aspiring doctor who grew up in Dallas’ Oak Cliff. She moved into her mother’s East Fort Worth home to help care for her mother and nephew, whose own mother also was in ailing health.
Dean arrived at the house in the early morning hours after a concerned neighbor called the nonemergency line and said the house doors were open and the lights on.
Jefferson’s nephew, Zion Carr, testified they left the doors open after burning hamburgers at dinnertime to let out smoke. Her family has said they often felt safe leaving the doors open.
Dean testified he thought the house may have been burglarized and didn’t announce his presence in case a perpetrator was still inside. He led his partner, Carol Darch, around the house to the fenced backyard where he saw Jefferson through her bedroom window.
Zion Carr testified Jefferson heard a noise outside and grabbed her handgun. Prosecutors said Jefferson had a right to protect herself and Zion.
Dean testified he saw the barrel of Jefferson’s gun, but he never told his partner he saw a gun even as he shouted commands at Jefferson to show her hands or after he pulled the trigger and the duo ran inside the house.
Whether Dean saw a gun was a central part of the trial. Defense lawyers said in opening arguments Dean saw a green laser on Jefferson’s gun, but he did not testify to that.
Prosecutors argued Jefferson would still be alive if Dean hadn’t ignored several police procedures for investigating an open structure and potential burglary.
The killing spurred a conversation about race and policing in a precursor to the nationwide social justice protests in 2020.
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