Atatiana Jefferson's Family File Lawsuit Over Her Killing

hawley

The sister of Atatiana Jefferson, a Black woman fatally shot by a white Fort Worth police officer in 2019, has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit over the 28-year-old’s slaying.

The lawsuit against former Officer Aaron Dean, former police Chief Ed Kraus, Mayor Betsy Price and the city of Fort Worth was filed Wednesday in federal court. It lists Ashley Carr as the plaintiff in her capacity as the proposed administrator for the estate of her slain sister and the administrator of the estate for their mother, Yolanda Carr, who died in early 2020.

It seeks damages of more than $10 million.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2021/05/19/sister-of-atatiana-jefferson-files-lawsuit-against-city-officials-former-fort-worth-officer-who-killed-her/%3foutputType=amp

It doesn't seem like Officer Dean was properly trained, although he had been a member of the force for quite some time. His behavior on the night contributed to escalating the incident. He should have just knocked on the front door, he frightened Atatiana. He never announced himself as a law enforcement official.

biko

From a previous thread

Fandymo wrote: »

Atatiana Jefferson, pointing a gun at police: Police body camera footage showed officers walking outside the home with flashlights for a few minutes before one of them yells, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!", before discharging his weapon through a window.[2] Police stated that they found a handgun near her body, which according to her 8-year-old nephew, she was pointing toward the window before being shot.

And

The arrest warrant affidavit states that Dean and his partner arrived at Jefferson's home about 2:30 a.m. on Saturday and never knocked on the door or identified themselves as police as they entered the backyard of the home and Dean opened fire almost as soon as he saw Jefferson standing at the bedroom window peering out.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/nephew-atatiana-jefferson-tells-investigators-retrieved-gun-shot/story?id=66286765
But of course this could been a mix-up, the courts will decide.

The shooting seems wrongful to me btw.

Normal One

Ironically her name sounds a bit like gunfire

biko

biko wrote: »

From a previous thread


https://abcnews.go.com/US/nephew-atatiana-jefferson-tells-investigators-retrieved-gun-shot/story?id=66286765
But of course this could been a mix-up, the courts will decide.

Body camera footage
Body camera footage released by the Fort Worth Police Department shows that two officers had walked quietly around the side of the home.Offic er Aaron Dean had walked into Jefferson's backyard. Seeing Jefferson in the window of her home, the officer yelled "put your hands up! Show me your hands!" and then fired a single shot through Jefferson's window.

Describing the video, the BBC wrote that Dean fired "within seconds" of seeing Jefferson. The BBC also wrote that the footage does not appear to show police identifying themselves or whether she was armed. The footage also does not show any indication if Dean could see the gun that Jefferson held, as the view through the window was obstructed by the reflection from his flashlight. The officer partnered with Dean told authorities that she could only see Jefferson's face through the window.

Nephew's account
Jefferson's eight-year-old nephew told the authorities that while playing video games they heard noises outside the window. Jefferson took her gun from her purse and pointed it at the window, before she was shot. The nephew's account was used as the basis for the arrest warrant. Interim Chief Kraus stated that it, "makes sense that she would have a gun if she felt that she was being threatened or there was someone in the backyard." According to the Jefferson family attorney Lee Merritt, the firearm was lawfully owned and Jefferson had a concealed carry license

A case of bad training and too many guns

I heard the officer posted some inspirational quotes on Facebook, so it's all good

Seems like a pretty clear case of murder (or manslaughter depending on the state law).

I hope the nephew will get over it. Poor kid.

Beasty

Yet another....