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Former Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger (center) in 2019 leaves the Frank Crowley Courts Building in downtown Dallas.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n
Former Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger has been\u00a0granted parole after serving seven years in prison for the murder of Botham Jean<\/a>.<\/p>\n Guyger fatally shot Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, in September 2018 after mistaking his apartment for her own. She told investigators she believed Jean was an intruder.<\/p>\n Jean\u2019s killing drew protests in Dallas and national attention, particularly because Jean was an unarmed Black man killed in his own home by a white police officer.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A Dallas County jury convicted Guyger, now 38, of murder in October 2019 and sentenced her to 10 years in prison.<\/p>\n The Texas parole board confirmed Thursday to The Dallas Morning News that Guyger had been granted parole. She was previously denied in 2024.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not immediately clear Thursday when she will be released from prison.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s what to know about Guyger, Jean\u2019s killing and what has happened in the years since.<\/p>\n What happened to Botham Jean?<\/p>\n A large photo of Botham Jean is displayed with photos and cards on one of the tables in his childhood home in Castries, St. Lucia on Sept. 25, 2018. Botham Jean was shot and killed in his apartment by off-duty Dallas police Officer Amber Guyger.<\/p>\n Vernon Bryant\/Staff Photographer<\/p>\n Guyger and Jean lived one floor apart at the South Side Flats, an apartment complex a few blocks from the Dallas police headquarters in the Cedars.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Guyger had finished a shift and was still in uniform when she returned to the complex on Sept. 6, 2018. She mistakenly parked on the fourth floor instead of the third floor, where she lived, and went to Jean\u2019s apartment.<\/p>\n Jean was eating ice cream in his apartment when Guyger entered. She fired twice, hitting Jean once. Jean died at a hospital.<\/p>\n Guyger was arrested three days later and initially charged with manslaughter. Dallas police fired her later that month. A Dallas County grand jury later indicted her on a murder charge.<\/p>\n Jean, a native of St. Lucia, had moved to the U.S. to attend Harding University in Arkansas, before taking a job as an accountant in Dallas. He was active in his church and his family has said he hoped to eventually return to St. Lucia and become prime minister.<\/p>\n Related: Two stunning hugs end Amber Guyger’s murder trial on a merciful note<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Why was\u00a0Guyger convicted of murder?<\/p>\n There was no dispute during Guyger\u2019s 2019 trial that she shot Jean. The main question for jurors was whether she committed a crime when she did so.<\/p>\n Guyger\u2019s attorneys argued she genuinely believed she had entered her own apartment and was confronting a burglar. Prosecutors argued her mistake didn’t justify killing Jean.<\/p>\n Jurors found Guyger guilty of murder on Oct. 1, 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n The jury later sentenced her to 10 years in prison. She faced five years to life in prison.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Guyger appealed, arguing there wasn’t enough evidence to support a murder conviction. She also argued that she should have been convicted of criminally negligent homicide, a lesser offense.<\/p>\n The Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas rejected those arguments and upheld her murder conviction in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n Why was Amber Guyger granted parole?<\/p>\n Guyger first became eligible for parole in 2024 after serving enough of her 10-year sentence to be considered for release.<\/p>\n The Texas parole board denied her parole that October<\/a>. Jean\u2019s family and the Dallas County district attorney\u2019s office opposed her release, as did thousands of people who signed an online petition.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The board reconsidered Guyger this year and granted her parole Thursday. The board confirmed the decision to The News, but it wasn’t immediately clear when Guyger would be released.<\/p>\n Parole doesn’t overturn Guyger\u2019s murder conviction. It allows her to serve the remainder of her sentence outside prison under state supervision and conditions set by the parole board.<\/p>\n Related: ‘Excruciating:’ Ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger now eligible for parole in Botham Jean’s murder<\/a><\/p>\n What happened in the civil case?<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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