Former Texas police officer found guilty of manslaughter for the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson at her home | CNN

CNN
 — 

A former Forth Worth, Texas, police officer was found guilty of manslaughter Thursday in the 2019 shooting of 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson in her home.

Dean, who is White,  faces up to 20 years in prison for the conviction.

He had pleaded not guilty to murder, a charge which carried a possible sentence of five to 99 years. Jurors were instructed Wednesday to also consider the lesser included offense of manslaughter.

Dean, in a gray suit, showed no emotion as the verdict was read.

His attorneys had said Dean fired in self-defense, but prosecutors argued there was no evidence he saw a gun in the Black woman’s hand before firing through a bedroom window.

Jefferson’s 11-year-old nephew, who was with her at the time, and Dean’s police partner – who responded with him to what they believed was a burglary – were the primary witnesses to the shooting and testified at trial. Dean took the stand and said he fired at Jefferson because she pointed a gun at him.

The verdict comes more than three years after Dean and his partner responded to Jefferson’s house around 2:25 a.m. on October 12, 2019, in response to a neighbor calling a nonemergency police line to report that her doors were open.

The jury got the case Wednesday afternoon after closing arguments in which the state portrayed Dean as a power-hungry former cop whose preconceived notions about the neighborhood where Jefferson lived tainted his conduct the night of the shooting.

The defense countered that Dean fired his weapon in self-defense while fearing for his life in what attorneys said was a tragic accident but not a criminal act.

This story is developing and will be updated.