Former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean’s murder trial in the 2019 killing of Atatiana Jefferson entered its second day in court on Tuesday.
The ex-cop is said to have been responding to a “non-emergency” call from a concerned neighbor on October 12 that year, after being informed about Atatiana’s front door being left open.
Body camera footage later showed how Aaron approached the back of the home and entered through a gated fenced-off backyard with his flashlights on before spotting Atatiana through a glass window, which prompted him to shoot her a split-second after demanding her to raise her hands. Police found a handgun near the 28-year-old victim, who had been playing video games with her eight-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, prior to the disturbance.
The court heard that Atatiana drew her gun after hearing some sort of commotion right outside of her home, which would make sense considering it was early morning and still dark outside. To make matters worse, however, neither Aaron nor his fellow responding officer ever disclosed their identity while at the house. During his testimony, Zion, told the court that he did see his aunt pull out her gun when she began to hear noises coming from the back of the property.
