A former police officer stands trial for shooting and killing a Black woman in her mother’s home back in October 2019. The question before jurors is whether defendant Aaron Dean‘s actions constituted murder. Authorities said victim Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was at her mother’s home playing video games with her nephew when Dean, then an officer with the Fort Worth Police Department, performed a botched welfare check.
James Smith, who was neighbors with the homeowner Yolanda Carr, told the BBC in a 2020 report that he called police to perform a welfare check after his niece and nephew saw that the lights of her home were on and the front door was open on the early morning of Oct. 12, 2019. He thought that it was strange that Carr’s lawnmower and gardening equipment were plugged in. This was not an emergency call. Smith said he expected an officer to just knock on the door and see if his neighbor was fine. He did not know that Carr was in the hospital for her heart condition. Instead, Carr’s 8-year-old grandson and daughter Atatiana were up playing video games.
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What if Miss Jefferson had shot the cop thinking he was an intruder. Would she have been arrested for murder?
The female police officer didn't remember very much from 3 years ago but they expect 11 year old to remember what happened.
Why didn't the cop enter through the door and announced himself when he didn't see anybody around? This way he could have secured the inside of the home.
This was murder!! While he was yelling commands, he shot her. He did not react in shock or grief after shooting this woman. Most police officers have a visceral effect after they have killed someone.
A child’s testimony shouldn’t be televised. He looks scarred enough without putting his worst moments onto the internet, forever.
The partner cop is so smug. I hate how cops act like civilians are a lower species.
Officer shoots anyone=criminal charges. Girl has a gun with a lazer pointed at a police officer gets shot=criminal charges.
This is tragic all around. Both were acting out of fear. If she had not been shot, he probably would have been.
He should have rendered aid, and should pay for that, but the officers were doing their job.
Do officers need more training? Definitely. But how many people want, or are even willing, to be a police officer anymore?
I feel so bad for Zion. He was so young, and is such a smart young man. Sadly, he's not getting an honest upbringing anymore, it seems.
Lord, please bless all…
Not in every neighborhood in my 55yr never a murder or robbery or assault
My door didn't latch all the way one night my neighbor saw it came over yelled in hey your door is open. I was putting kids to bed I thanked him and the end.
He should get life
Creeping around your window tells hands up as he is shooting
police girl cute af
hmmmm neeighbour calls police at that time in the morning and the door is open. will he be a witness?
All he been looking for his whole time is a chance to shoot someone and he thought he finally had a chance
Next person that coughs I'm gonna SLAP IN THE FACE – HARD!!!
For the love of God…put the jurors in a sound proof room! The coughing is so distracting!!
Weird to watch a da turn hostile on her own witness
This was a terrible situation and feel so sorry for the family! If I was that neighbor, I would probably have to seek counseling to deal with the guilt of knowing if I hadn’t called, the whole situation would not have happened. I’m not trying to blame the neighbor, but just saying how I would feel if that was the outcome of a call I made. Also, I’ve said it before…..the police should not pair new/relatively new officers together! They should have an officer who has at least 5-10 years of experience paired up with a new officer, so that the new officer can draw off of the other officer’s experience! This is not rocket science, but common sense! The defendants partner even said on the stand that she was 3 weeks in and was asked about checking the license plates on the cars in the driveway to see who they were registered to and she said that she wouldn’t have thought about that with the experience she had at the time. The defendant graduated a little before her, because she had a broken leg or something like that, which caused a delay in her graduating, but as far as there experience, it was pretty much the same. He needs to go straight to jail because watching that video, he literally gave her ZERO time to put her hands up, or respond to his commands and then his ONLY concern was finding the weapon, he didn’t offer ANY aide to the victim while she lay there dying and moaning in pain….not to mention shooting her directly in the heart! He only offered assistance to her when he heard other officers coming in! How could you do that?!? 🤦🏾♀️
Again, my condolences go out to the family. 🙏🏽
BTW…..
Isn’t it funny 🙄(sarcasm) how people seem to cough 😮💨 at the precise moment that you’re trying to hear something really important?!?
UGH!! 😤
The man didn’t even render medical aid like he’s supposed to. He literally didn’t do one thing by the book. Just stared at her while she struggled to breathe, even though it was all his fault.
Really interesting how a CHILD can be interviewed so quickly, but the police officer gets to take his time. I don't they should have placed that child on the stand. He has gone through so much and has probably has had too much time to over think and people around him say too much. Since they say it's normal for children's story to sound a little different they should have bypassed his testimony. Especially since his testimony really wasn't needed in this case. Looks like the defense was the main people who wanted to use it and that seems pretty low when considering the circumstances.
Even cops who had a right to shoot people render aid. Smh. This guy is cold
Lord delivery me from texas pd
I like the neighbor, he’s old school. He’s not about to give them any way of thinking the neighborhood is bad!
Audio is horrible
This is the testimony I've been waiting for .
The lady cop is a terrific human being.
You do not call tha police to help people of color unless you actually see or hear them being harmed because asking for help over a suspicion only makes things much worse in my opinion. Most landlords call or knock before calling tha police. If I was his tenant I would have moved instantly.
💖2022💖
Well I have to say that this is a fair trial so far and the defense can't say it isn't. They have the boy stating in that video the aunt had the gun up and the prosecution graciously stated that fact numerous times for the defense. This guy still needs to be put away though because this was not an "accident" it would have been one had he done his job properly or avoided all together but the simple fact is that he murdered that woman cause she scared the crap out of him by looking out her own window while he creeped around and then failed to render her aid because he wanted her to die and not be able to testify against him if she survived.
From inside that poor woman's window, all she could see was dark. Lights on in the room she was standing in would make the night seen even blacker. No way she could see him UNTIL the officer shines a light in her face. THERE IS NO WAY SHE COULD HAVE KNOWN HE WAS A POLICE OFFICER BECAUSE HE DID NOT IDENTIFY NOR COULD SHE SEE HIM IN FULL UNIFORM BECAUSE SHE WAS BEING BLINDED.
There is no way that his shooting is justified. im sure he had a bullet proof vest 1, #2 you shot through a window. HOW ABOUT YOU KNOCK ON THE FRONT DOOR. HE BETTER GO TO JAIL
Listening to her take her final breaths 02:37:15 is so extremely heartbreaking. She fought til the very end to just breathe. This is really hard to listen to….
He definitely froze all the way up. In that clip we hear him take a big deep breath with ease while in the background hearing Tatiana fight with all her might for just one more breath.😭💔
The coughing is super annoying! I don’t blame the prosecutor for soliciting cough drops!
Apart from this, Zion’s testimony is moving.
Goodness are there any healthy people in that courtroom?
Did he say " put your hands up I'm coming in"?
“We need cough drops for this whole courtroom” hahaha exactly what I think during EVERY trial I watch
Listen to her at 4:51:10 to 4:51:47 and tell me what you think
Here in Australia today, 4 police officers responded to a welfare check on a rural property. As they were walking up the driveway they were ambushed by the 3 people in the house (who called for the check) and shot dead 2 officers and injured 1, shot at any police officer that turned up including the helicopters until police killed them. Now this officer Dean was doing the same thing, except he shot an innocent lady BUT he did not know that, so at the end of the day this was a tragic accident. He is innocent
Please take the COUGHERS out to a different room! Its hard enough to hear!!!
Also, I know this is frivolous, but why would they call it a duty belt when they could just as easily call it a utility belt I know they like to call it the duty belt because they’re on duty but come on
The officer on the stand said, open structure is a business that has a door open after hours that shouldn’t be open. Now if you’re driving in a residential neighborhood and you see somebody’s front door open, you’re not gonna assume it’s being broken to you’re going to assume that maybe they’re getting fresh air or maybe they just want to feel open she said it herself open structure is a business that has a door open after hours, not residential, because residential came in anything
Is there someone designated to cough throughout every single court hearing?
Why on God's earth was that 8yr baby being questioned. I'm in Australia thank God!