The family of Botham Jean, the Dallas man who was murdered in his apartment by a Dallas police officer in 2018, was awarded $98.6 million by a jury Wednesday. “We are very happy that this jury has spoken, and we are going to continue to work,” the family’s attorney, Daryl K.
Washington, said at a news conference Wednesday after the decision in the civil trial against the officer convicted in Jean’s death, Amber Guyger. “The city of Dallas hired Amber Guyger,” Washington added. “The city of Dallas was responsible for training Amber Guyger.
On the night that Botham was killed, the city of Dallas and the police officers protected Amber Guyger. But yet, when you have a situation like this, they kick police officers under the bus and they run away from the liability.” In 2020 , a federal judge dismissed the city of Dallas from the lawsuit after the city argued the suit failed “to state a claim” against it.
Guyger, who was fired from the Dallas Police Department shortly after she fatally shot Jean, was found guilty on Oct. 1, 2019, of murdering her neighbor . In Guyger’s testimony, she said she had mistakenly entered Jean’s apartment on Sept.
6, 2018, thinking it was her own and shot him because she believed he was an intruder. Jean, a 26-year-old Black man, was sitting on his couch watching TV and eating ice cream when Guyger, a 30-year-old white officer, shot him. The civil trial against Guyger began Monday.
Guyger did not have legal representation, and sh.