The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Fort Worth chief: ‘Absolutely no excuse’ for woman’s killing
FORT WORTH, Texas — The furor Tuesday over the killing of a black woman by a white Fort Worth officer became increasingly about a gun pointed at a bedroom window. But the police chief and activists said the focus was on the wrong gun.
In bringing murder charges against Officer Aaron Dean in the slaying of Atatiana Jefferson, police released an arrest warrant Tuesday quoting the victim’s 8yearold nephew as saying Jefferson had pulled out a gun after hearing suspicious noises behind her house.
Black politicians and others criticized the police and the media for bringing up Jefferson’s weapon, angrily accusing the department of trying to deflect blame onto an innocent victim.
“The Fort Worth Police Department is going about the task of providing a defense for this officer,” said Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Jefferson family.
Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus declared there was “absolutely no excuse” for the killing and said Jefferson behaved as any Texas homeowner would have if he or she had heard a prowler. It wasn’t clear from the warrant whether Dean even saw her weapon through the glass.
Dean, 34, resigned and was arrested Monday for firing a single bullet through a windowpane while investigating a neighbor’s report about the front door being left open at Jefferson’s home. Jefferson was staying up late, playing video games with her nephew.
Police bodycam video showed Dean making his way around the side of the house into the backyard in the darkness and opening fire a split second after shouting at the 28yearold Jefferson to show her hands. He did not identify himself as a police officer.
In the arrest warrant, Jefferson’s nephew said his aunt had taken a gun from her purse and pointed it at the window. Over the weekend, the Police Department also stirred anger by releasing images of the gun inside the home.