(ABC7NY) DALLAS, Texas — The former Dallas officer who claimed she thought she was in her own apartment when she shot her neighbor to death is headed to prison.
Amber Guyger didn’t appear to show much reaction as the judge read the jury’s sentence. It came a day after the jury convicted her of murder in the September 2018 killing of Botham Jean.
Guyger’s sentence was met with boos and jeers by a crowd gathered outside the courtroom. “It’s a slap in the face,” one woman said. Yet in an extraordinary moment, Botham’s brother Brant Jean begged the judge to allow him to hug Guyger after his victim impact statement.
“I don’t even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you, because I know that’s exactly what Botham would want,” he said.
The basic facts of the unusual shooting were not in dispute throughout the trial. In September 2018, Guyger walked up to Jean’s apartment – which was on the fourth floor, directly above hers on the third – and found the door unlocked. She was off duty but still dressed in her police uniform after a long shift when she shot Jean with her service weapon. The 26-year-old accountant had been eating a bowl of ice cream before Guyger entered his home.
Jean, who grew up in the Caribbean island nation of St. Lucia, came to the U.S. for college and starting his career as an accountant. His shooting drew widespread attention because of the strange circumstances and because it was one in a string of shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers.
Guyger was arrested three days after the killing. She was later fired and charged with murder, but only spoke publicly about the shooting upon taking the witness stand last…
