FORT WORTH, Texas — The murder trial for the former Fort Worth officer who killed Atatiana Jefferson is underway more than three years since the fatal shooting.
Aaron Dean, 38, could face up to life in prison if convicted of murder for shooting and killing Jefferson in her mother’s home Oct. 12, 2019. Jurors have heard testimony from Jefferson’s 11-year-old nephew, the officer who was with Dean during the shooting, the neighbor who initially called police and others.
A few details about what happened are undisputed: Dean and another officer showed up to Jefferson’s home after a concerned neighbor called police about an open door at the home. Jefferson, who had been playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, heard a noise outside and got her gun. Dean shouted, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” and within seconds fatally shot Jefferson through a back window.
But whether or not Dean was justified when he fired the fatal shot is a key question being debated in the Tarrant County courtroom. Jurors must decide whether Jefferson’s death was murder.
The trial is expected to stretch into a second week. It’s unclear whether Dean will testify when the defense presents its case to tell jurors his point of view about the night he killed Jefferson.
Here’s what you need to know about the trial.
Prosecutors say Dean had no reason to use lethal force
Prosecutors argued in opening statements Dean did not see the gun in Jefferson’s hand and had no reason to use lethal force. Once inside, Dean did not immediately tend to Jefferson’s wound, and first used his flashlight to scan the room and note the gun on the floor, she said. Dean pressed a blanket to Jefferson’s chest after more officers arrived, prosecutor Ashlea Deener said.
“This is not a justification, this is not a self-defense case — this is murder,” Deener said.
The defense said Dean thought the home was burglarized
Miles Brissette, one of Dean’s defense attorneys, said during opening statements that jurors need to consider what Dean knew at the time of the shooting — not what was learned afterward.
The nonemergency call was coded an open structure, which Fort Worth police policies state should be treated as “a silent alarm,” Brissette said. He said officers responding to that type of call need to inspect the building for forced entry and not reveal their position.
Dean saw what he thought was to be a ransacked home — with open kitchen cabinets and things scattered on the floor — and thought it was a burglary in progress, his attorney said. A mower and a bicycle were on the ground outside.
Brissette told jurors Dean saw through the back window a silhouette with a gun and a green laser aimed at him, which he perceived to be a threat. Brissette said the case is about fact and not emotion, and Dean yelled out commands as trained before he fired.
Jefferson’s young nephew said his aunt’s gun was by her side
Zion Carr was 8 when he saw his aunt fall to the floor after Dean shot her. Now 11, he took the witness stand on the first day of testimony and said he thought he was dreaming when Jefferson collapsed.
Before the shooting, Zion saw his aunt take her gun from her purse and approach the back window of the bedroom, with the gun close to her side, he told jurors. Outside the presence of the jury, prosecutor Dale Smith said that testimony was the first time Zion said Jefferson kept the gun at her hip — he’d previously told authorities Jefferson held the gun up, Smith said.
Zion also told jurors he didn’t remember seeing or hearing police officers outside, but lawyers said that differed from what he told a forensic interviewer in the hours after the shooting. Defense lawyers implied to the judge they believed Zion was coached to give a different account in court.
Zion was upbeat before testimony, but under defense questioning, he grew frustrated and struggled to answer some questions. He repeatedly said “I don’t remember” when the defense pressed him on what he told authorities after the shooting in 2019.
Officer who was with Dean said they didn’t follow proper procedure
The officer who was with Dean the night of the shooting, Carol Darch, told jurors on the second day of testimony she and Dean did not announce their presence in case a burglar was in the home. She said she followed Dean’s lead and they didn’t say much to each other.
Darch said there wasn’t damage on the home’s open doors. The exterior doors were open because Zion and Jefferson burned hamburger patties and wanted to air out the home, Zion testified.
Darch said they didn’t follow procedure and secure entrances and exits before they inspected the rest of the building. She and Dean also didn’t call the homeowner, which is required when there are no signs of damage or forced entry.
Dean did not say “gun” before shooting or tell Darch he saw a gun as they rushed inside the home, according to Darch’s testimony and body-camera footage.
None of the jurors are Black
Although some of the 12 jurors and two alternates are people of color, none are Black. Dean is white, and Jefferson was Black.
Jurors smiled and laughed when Zion Carr described charred patties and aspirations of becoming a basketball player. During the 11-year-old’s testimony, a juror reached for a tissue from a nearby box and wiped his palms. He nodded when a prosecutor told Zion he was brave.
On the second day of testimony, jurors did not appear to react when they were shown body camera footage of the shooting. A few feverishly took notes.
Before Dean’s arrest, no Tarrant County officer had ever faced a murder charge, the district attorney’s office has said. Dean resigned after the shooting before Fort Worth police could fire him, according to then-interim chief Ed Kraus.
Other testimony
James Smith, the neighbor who called police about Jefferson’s open door, testified that his call wasn’t an emergency, and he later saw two silhouettes approach the home but didn’t immediately realize they were police. He said he relives the shooting daily and feels somewhat responsible for Jefferson’s death.
Jurors also heard from a former 911 call-taker, a crime scene investigator and a detective who responded to the home after the shooting happened.
