DALLAS (AP) A white former Dallas police officer who shot her black unarmed neighbor to death after, she said, mistaking his apartment for her own was convicted of murder Tuesday in a verdict that prompted tears of relief from his family and chants of black lives matter from a crowd outside the courtroom.
The same jury that found Amber Guyger guilty in the September 2018 death of her upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean, will consider her fate after hearing additional testimony that started Tuesday afternoon. Her sentence could range from five years to life in prison under Texas law.
The jury took a matter of hours to convict Guyger, 31, after six days of testimony.
Cheers erupted in the courthouse as the verdict was announced, and someone yelled Thank you, Jesus!
In the hallway outside the courtroom, a crowd celebrated and chanted black lives matter. When the prosecutors walked into the hall, they broke into cheers.
After the verdict was read, Guyger sat alone, weeping, at the defense table.
Jeans friends and family later testified to explain how his death has affected them. First on the stand was Allison Jean, who said her son was killed just before he was due to turn 27.
My life has not been the same. Its just been like a roller coaster. I cant sleep, I cannot eat. Its just been the most terrible time for me, she said.
Botham Jeans sister, Allisa Findley, told the jury that she and her mother cry a lot, her formerly bubbly younger brother has retreated as if into a shell, and that her father is not the same.
Its like the light behind his eyes is off, Findley said.
She said her children are now afraid of police.
Prosecutors also submitted text messages accepted as evidence over defense objections that indicated Guyger lacks sensitivity toward black people. In one, she suggests participants at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Dallas could be persuaded to go home with the use of physical violence and pepper spray. In a message sent to Guygers phone, the messenger suggests she would like a German shepherd because the dog is racist. Guyger declares that she hates everything and everyone but yall.
Guygers defense attorneys can argue that she deserves a light sentence because she acted out of sudden fear and confusion. The judge is expected to provide guidance on sentencing law.
Guyger was jailed Tuesday afternoon pending sentencing. It is unclear how long the punishment phase of the trial will last. Testimony will resume today.
The basic facts of the unusual shooting were not in dispute throughout the trial. Guyger said that after a long shift at work and still in uniform, she walked up to Jeans apartment which was on the fourth floor, directly above hers on the third and found the door unlocked. She said she thought the apartment was her own when she drew her service weapon and entered.
