FORT WORTH, Texas — The state rested its case Wednesday afternoon in the murder trial of former Fort Worth police Officer Aaron Dean, who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson in her mother’s home more than three years ago. Court will resume Monday when the defense presents its case to jurors.
Dean, 38, faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder for the shooting, which his defense team called a “tragic accident.” Prosecutors say Dean fired too quickly, could not have seen a gun within the seconds he acted and violated department policies. Dean’s lawyers argue the officer saw a green laser on Jefferson’s gun, which she grabbed after hearing a noise in the backyard.
Jurors also heard from Fort Worth police crime scene officers and a detective who responded to the home in the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue after the shooting. Dean and another officer responded to an open structure call about 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2019. A concerned neighbor called a nonemergency line after noticing the home’s doors were open and the lights were on, according to testimony this week.
Jefferson, 28, was living in the home and caring for her 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, while his mother was in poor health and her mother was hospitalized. The two were up late playing video games and left the doors open to air out smoke after burning hamburgers.
Officer Carol Darch, who was Dean’s partner on the call, testified Tuesday that they peered inside the house, saw a mess and believed the house had been ransacked and burglarized. They walked to the back of the house; Dean looked into Jefferson’s bedroom window, yelled, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” then fired through the glass, striking her.
Dean did not identify himself as a police officer before firing the fatal shot. Darch told jurors the officers did not announce their presence in case a burglar was still inside.
MedStar paramedic Francisco Chairez testified Wednesday that emergency medical responders spent about 20 minutes performing life-saving measures on Jefferson. Dean clasped his hands on the table, his eyes beamed down, as the paramedic described their efforts.
Dean did not tend to Jefferson’s wound once inside the house, according to prosecutors. Dean scanned a flashlight through the bedroom where Jefferson’s body lay and picked up her gun, his body-camera footage shows. Only when Dean heard more officers at the front door did he put a blanket on her wound, prosecutors said.
Jefferson was a graduate of Xavier University in Louisiana and aspired to be a doctor. Her sisters, Ashley and Amber Carr, wore matching gold necklaces of a stethoscope molded into a heart inscribed with Jefferson’s name.
Prosecutors confronted Darch on the stand Tuesday about the officers’ failure to secure the front and side doors before opening a fence and going into the backyard, per the department’s policy. Dean never announced he saw a gun before he fired his service weapon or as he and Darch raced inside the home, Darch said.
Miles Brissette, Dean’s defense lawyer, suggested the policies are only “best practices.” While questioning a crime scene officer, Brissette said the officer, T. Valderas, didn’t document the number of photos he took and left with a log of first responders who were in the home but wasn’t fired.
Then-interim police Chief Ed Krause said Dean resigned before he had a chance to fire him. Dean was arrested on a murder warrant two days after the shooting.
Defense lawyers said aiming a gun at a police officer is a felony when questioning the police officers who testified.
Prosecutors have not asked witnesses about the Texas’ “Castle Law Doctrine,” which allows homeowners to use deadly force to protect themselves. Prosecutors argued that Jefferson did not know the two silhouettes in her backyard were police officers.
Kraus and then Mayor Betsy Price said at the time of the shooting Jefferson was within her right to defend herself.
Before Dean’s arrest, no Tarrant County officer had ever faced a murder charge, the district attorney’s office said at the time.
A gag order prohibits Dean and his defense lawyers, and Jefferson’s family and the prosecutors from speaking ahead of the end of the trial. Dean’s lead defense attorney, Jim Lane, died on the eve of jury selection.
Although some of the 12 jurors and two alternates are people of color, none are Black.
The trial is expected to stretch into next week.
———
