Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger is scheduled to be released from prison on October 16 after the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles approved parole seven years into her 10-year sentence for murdering Botham Jean.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has listed the October 16 release date. Guyger, 38, was convicted in 2019 for fatally shooting Jean, 26, inside his Dallas apartment on September 6, 2018.
As The Dallas Express previously reported, the parole board approved Guyger’s release on October 1. Her first parole request was denied in 2024.
The board cited three reasons for approving parole: Guyger’s record did not show a documented pattern of violent or assaultive arrests or convictions; she maintained a satisfactory institutional adjustment; and she completed programs and activities in her individual treatment plan that the board said should improve her chances of maintaining stable full-time employment.
Murder Conviction and Appeals
Guyger testified at trial that she returned home from work in uniform, went to the wrong floor of the South Side Flats apartment building and entered Jean’s apartment believing it was her own. She said she thought Jean was an intruder and fired in self-defense.
A Dallas County jury rejected her defense and convicted her of murder. The Fifth Court of Appeals later affirmed the conviction, finding the evidence legally sufficient to support the jury’s verdict. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals subsequently refused her petition for discretionary review.
A federal civil jury in 2024 also found Guyger liable for violating Jean’s constitutional rights through excessive force and awarded Jean’s estate and parents $98.6 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Court records show Guyger represented herself and waived her right to attend that trial.
Jean Family Opposed Parole
Jean’s family opposed Guyger’s early release. Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, who represents the family, said the family was “deeply disappointed” by the parole decision and argued that the 10-year sentence was already a fraction of what Jean’s family lost.
“Botham does not get to come home. His family does not get the years they should have had with him. No parole decision can return what was taken from them,” Merritt said in the statement, per NBC 5.
The Dallas Police Department said it had no role in the parole decision and acknowledged that the development could renew attention and emotion surrounding Jean’s death.
“Our thoughts remain with the Jean family and all those impacted by his loss,” the department said, per NBC 5 DFW.
Jean, an accountant from St. Lucia, was honored in Dallas in 2021 when a portion of Lamar Street near Dallas Police Department headquarters was renamed Botham Jean Boulevard.
