Jury will continue deliberations in Amber Guyger’s murder trial

Jurors will continue deliberations Tuesday morning to decide if ex-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger is guilty in the killing of a 26-year-old man in his own apartment.

The verdict will conclude a high-profile trial that captured national attention and sparked outrage. Guyger, who is white, testified she parked on the wrong floor of the Dallas apartment complex South Side Flats on September 6, 2018. She then walked to the apartment that is directly one floor above hers and said she heard movement behind the front door, which she said was slightly ajar.

The jury was instructed to find whether Guyger is guilty of murder, which carries a sentence of up to life in prison. If the jury does not find Guyger guilty, the jury could also decide whether she’s guilty of manslaughter, which could result in two to 20 years in prison.

In uniform but off-duty following a daylong shift, Guyger wanted to “find the threat,” after hearing noise in what she thought was her apartment, she testified. She continued to open the door. That’s when she saw a silhouette and demanded to see his hands, she said. The person started approaching in a “fast-paced walk,” she added, and she fired two shots at what she believed to be an intruder.

One of the bullets killed 26-year-old Botham Jean, who is black. Prosecutors say he had been relaxing in his apartment with a fresh bowl of ice cream shortly before the incident around 10 p.m. CT.

“I ask God for forgiveness, and I hate myself every single day,” Gugyer said before the jury last week, her voice shaking. “I wish he was the one with the gun who had killed me. I never wanted to take an innocent person’s life.”

Prosecutors argued Guyger was distracted that night texting with her married police partner, with whom she had sexual relations. They said she missed numerous signs in the hallways leading up to Jean’s apartment indicating she was on the wrong floor.

Lead prosecutor Jason Hermus also hammered Guyger for entering the apartment “to find the threat” rather than back away and seek cover or call for officer assistance over her police radio. He also argued she did not render enough first aid to Jean.

Experts have been unable to determine Jean’s exact position when he was shot. A medical examiner testified the bullet entered just above Jean’s upper left nipple and traveled downward, damaging his heart and several other major organs before landing in his psoas muscle.

“When you aimed and pulled the trigger at Mr. Jean, shooting him in center mass exactly where you are trained, you intended to kill Mr. Jean,” Hermus said.

“I did,” Guyger said.

Guyger described the moments after the shooting as chaotic as she realized she was in an unfamiliar place and had shot an innocent man. On the phone with a 911 operator that night, Guyger said 19 times she thought she had been in her apartment. Guyger said she performed a “little” CPR and a sternum rub on Jean.

Hermus, the lead prosecutor, pointed out she never used first aid supplies from the backpack she had when she shot Jean. Guyger testified that her mind was racing while on the phone with a 911 operator. She said it didn’t cross her mind that she had first aid supplies in her backpack.

Texas Ranger David Armstrong, the lead investigator of the case, said in court last week — while the jury was not in the room — that he believed Guyger’s actions were reasonable and that she did not commit murder, nor manslaughter or criminally negligent manslaughter. Despite multiple attempts by the defense team to have Armstrong offer his opinion before the jury, the judge would not allow it.

Guyger was initially charged with manslaughter in September 2018, but a grand jury indicted her on a murder charge the next month. The Dallas Police Department fired Guyger after the shooting.

The trial was laced with dramatic, emotional moments, as attorneys played graphic body cam footage of police trying to resuscitate Jean on his floor and read explicit sexual messages between Guyger and her police partner.