Cop in Fort Worth shoots woman thru kitchen window during wellness check

Like Lots of young Girls her age Atatiana Jefferson had A date Friday night but unlike most of her peers, Jefferson's date was with her nephew. They enjoyed a video game which went to the wee hours of Saturday when authorities arrived Jefferson shared with her mum.

Officers were Reacting to a telephone from James Smith, a neighbor who understood Jefferson's mother wasn't well. (Jefferson, a pre-med graduate of Xavier University, had moved home to look after her ailing parent, that had been at the hospital recovering from severe injuries.) Smith was stressed when he saw doorways into the Jefferson house late.

Despite The nonemergency nature of this telephone, two police officers , the lawn crossing. Then one seen Jefferson peering from a window.

In body footage published by the Fort Worth Police Department, an officer could be heard yelling, "Put your hands up! Show me your hands!" This was most likely the thing Jefferson discovered.

Inside Two moments of the warning, Officer Aaron Dean taken Jefferson's bedroom window. She died in her house; her nephew was watching in shock.

On Monday, Dean, who's white, resigned by the police department. He had been detained and charged with murder.

Only two weeks ago, an off-duty Dallas police officer, Amber Guyger, had been found guilty of murdering her neighbor, 26-year-old Botham Jean, in his apartment. Guyger later told authorities she'd mistaken Jean's apartment for her own, one floor below his.

The fact that the officers in both of these cases are white and both victims are African American has not gone unnoticed. But where the city of Dallas was, for many, too slow to investigate Guyger's case and bring it to trial, things are unfolding differently in Fort Worth.

Dean, the officer who killed Jefferson, was placed on detached duty Sunday and stripped of his badge and gun, according to Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus.

Kraus said he intended to fire Dean on Monday, but then Dean handed in his resignation. "Had the officer never resigned," the chief said, "I would have fired him for offenses of policies such as our use-of-force policy, our de-escalation coverage and unprofessional conduct."

At the family's news conference hours earlier, Jefferson's brother, Adarius Carr, said he's been a Navy man for a dozen years. He said in the Navy there are consequences for not following procedure -- and there should be here as well.

"When you do not do it how you've been educated -- the way you've been educated -- you need to answer for this," Carr said.

The fact that Jefferson was Killed by a police officer in her home is not, Merritt said,"a lousy luck episode in the otherwise sound section. They are in need of severe systematic reform"

Jefferson's family, civic activists and Merritt are demanding an investigation from an independent, outside agency. While the police department will launch an internal investigation, Merritt said he and Jefferson's family hope the main probe will be handled"by somebody aside from the Fort Worth Police Department" so that the police are not investigating themselves.

Meanwhile, the city's top representatives, from the mayor to the city manager to Kraus, have apologized profusely and empathized with the Jefferson family's torment.

"We are heartbroken now," the city's mayor, Betsy Price, told the media on Monday. "The whole town is in pain. As a mom, a sister, a grandmother, I can not imagine anything worse. And I'm so sorry on behalf of the entire town of Fort Worth."

As Sincere as the apologies are, the mayor also said, "Sorry does not cut it" and that "The whole city should encircle [Jefferson's nephew] with all prayer, service and whatever his family wants."