A former police officer who’s been charged with murder after fatally shooting a black woman in her own home as she played video games was released on bail Monday.
From The Hill:
Aaron Dean, 34, posted bond Monday night after his arrest, the Associated Press reported, citing jail records. He had been held on a $200,000 bond after the shooting that started with a nonemergency call about an open door.
As we previously reported on Saturday, Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was gunned down in her home after a neighbor, James Smith, noticed the front door of the home was open and all the lights were on. Smith called the police nonemergency number and asked police to do a wellness check.
Dean arrived on the scene, peered into the windows at the back of the home with a flashlight, and opened fire on Jefferson almost immediately after yelling “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!”
Body cameras captured the entire ordeal and Jefferson was pronounced dead at the scene.
In the aftermath, CBS News reports that after turning in his resignation on Monday, Dean was charged with her murder.
“The family of Atatiana Jefferson is relieved that Aaron Dean has been arrested & charged with murder,” Lee Merritt, the family’s attorney, tweeted on Monday. “We need to see this through to a vigorous prosecution & appropriate sentencing. The City of Fort Worth has much work to do to reform a brutal culture of policing.”
Interim Police Chief Ed Kraus confirmed that while surveying the premises, Dean failed to identify himself as a police officer or even knock on the front door.
“Nobody looked at this video and said that there’s any doubt that this officer acted inappropriately,” Kraus told the Associated Press.
Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price called the shooting “a pivotal moment in our city” and has demanded a “top-to-bottom review” of its police force in order to “rebuild a sense of trust within the city and with our police department,” according to the Associated Press.