By Maggie Prosser and Kelli Smith
Reprinted – by Texas Metro News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the 2018 murder of Botham Jean, was denied parole Thursday, according to Jean’s family.
Guyger, 36, was eligible for parole late last month — on what would have been Jean’s 33rd birthday — after serving half her sentence in a Gatesville prison. Jean’s family, the Dallas County district attorney’s office, and more than 6,300 people who signed an online petition protested Guyger’s parole.
Jean’s sister, Allisa Charles-Findley, provided The Dallas Morning News with an email notification from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. According to the email, Guyger will be up for release again in 2026.
The email said, in part, “This is to notify you that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied parole for this offender.” It also acknowledged the “criminal victimization” the family has experienced.
Allison Jean, Jean’s mother, told The News in a statement that her family “feels a sense of relief,” adding it shows “part of the accountability that she must have for her actions.” She has said she doesn’t sense remorse from Guyger after previous failed appeals. Texas’ highest criminal court upheld her conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in 2022.
Allison Jean thanked the people who sent emails and letters to the parole board. In a statement provided by Charles-Findley, the family’s high-profile legal team reiterated its relief: “This is one very important component of justice for [the family] for the senseless death of their brother and son while he was unarmed and minding his own business in his own home.”
A spokeswoman for the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles confirmed the decision in an email early Friday morning and declined to comment further.
Guyger’s appellate attorney did not immediately respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.
In a statement Friday, a spokeswoman said the district attorney’s office stands by a letter submitted to the parole panel protesting the ex-cop’s release.
Guyger mistook Jean’s apartment for her own on the night of Sept. 6, 2018. Guyger lived on the third floor of the South Side Flats building; Jean lived on the fourth. She was fired from the Dallas Police Department a few weeks after the killing and initially jailed on a manslaughter charge. A grand jury later indicted her for murder.
Jean was a native of St. Lucia and dreamed of returning to run for prime minister. He was devout and had a deep interest in social justice. His murder prompted protests and outrage as another example of a white officer killing an unarmed Black man.
At her 2019 trial, Guyger testified she believed Jean was a burglar and twice fired her service weapon. Guyger was off-duty but still wearing her police uniform. In later appeals, Guyger argued that her mistaken belief she was in her apartment negated her culpability for murder and that she had the right to use deadly force in self-defense.
Whether Guyger pulled the trigger wasn’t in dispute at her trial; rather jurors were tasked with deciding if the killing was a crime. Defense attorneys contended Guyger “firmly and reasonably” believed she was in her own apartment and that her life was in danger.
Prosecutors asked the jury to sentence Guyger to no less than 28 years in prison, a reminder that Jean would have celebrated his 28th birthday about the time of the trial. She faced between five and 99 years of life in prison.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
