The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from former Fort Worth Police Officer Aaron Dean, who was convicted in the death of Atatiana Jefferson.
Dean was convicted in 2022 of manslaughter in Jefferson’s fatal shooting and was sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison. Dean argued in his appeal that the prosecutors should have not been able to ask the jury to consider the lesser charge at the end of the criminal trial, CBS Dallas reported.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, before the sentence was read, tensions ran high outside the courtroom as many of Jefferson’s supporters gathered to enter the courtroom. Dean’s family arrived to learn just how long he would serve.
Tarrant County deputies instructed everyone who entered the courtroom to turn in their electronic devices.
Dean being found guilty was a rare conviction of a police officer killing someone who was armed with a firearm, reported CBS Dallas.
Dean said during the trial that he saw Jefferson’s weapon while prosecutors argued that evidence showed the contrary, reported CBS Dallas.
Body camera footage showed that Dean and another officer did not identify themselves as police when they arrived to the house. Both Dean and the other officer testified that they thought the house had been burglarized, reported CBS Dallas.
Dean and the other officer moved to the backyard of the house where Deans gun was drawn and a single shot was made through a window killing Jefferson.
This came after shouting at Jefferson to show her hands. Jefferson’s nephew testified that she took her firearm as she thought there was an intruder in her back yard, CBS Dallas reported.