After three days of deliberation, a grand jury says that Amber Guyger should be tried for murder when she shot and killed a man she thought was in her apartment, when she had accidentally gone into his.
Watch below:
More from CNN:
A police officer who claimed she killed a Dallas man in his own apartment in the mistaken belief that he was in her home was indicted Friday on a murder charge, authorities said.
The indictment of Amber Guyger comes more than two months after she was arrested in the shooting death of Botham Shem Jean at the Dallas apartment complex where both lived — a killing that sparked days of protests.
Guyger was arrested after the September shooting and charged with manslaughter by the Texas Rangers, the lead investigative agency, Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said at a news conference.
When asked why the grand jury indicted Guyger on the more serious offense of murder, Johnson replied, “We presented the evidence and we explained the law.”
Johnson said murder constitutes someone “intentionally and knowingly” committing a crime, whereas manslaughter involves “recklessly doing something.”
“At the moment of the shooting it was a knowing … offense,” Johnson said.
The court records Friday showed both a manslaughter and murder charge entered in Guyger’s file, but a clerk of court clerk confirmed that the murder charge is the one prosecutors are moving forward on.
There are a lot of weird details in this case that make me think the official cover story isn’t quite the most accurate report. Hopefully the truth will come out in this terrible tragedy.
Botham Jean’s mother spoke after the indictment: