Life

Ex-Police Officer Aaron Dean Indicted for Murder of Atatiana Jefferson

A cop from Fort Worth, Texas has been indicted for the murder of 28-year-old pre-med graduate student Atatiana Jefferson.

Fort Worth
Image via Getty/Stewart F. House
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A former police officer from Fort Worth, Texas has been indicted for the murder of 28-year-old pre-med graduate student Atatiana Jefferson.

As NBC News reports, 35-year-old Aaron Dean was indicted by a Texas grand jury on Friday after he was charged with the murder back in October. Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew earlier this year when she was fatally shot by Dean through her bedroom window. He was responding to a call from one of Jefferson's neighbors, who claimed that they were worried after they saw the front door of Jefferson's home, which belonged to her mother, was left open for a long period of time.

Police have said that Dean's body camera footage showed that he didn't identify himself before he fired his weapon. In the video, Dean can be seen looking into a window and exclaiming, "Put your hands up, show me your hands." He then fired a single shot as Jefferson's nephew watched. The incident took place around 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 12 after Dean searched the area surrounding the house.

Jefferson reportedly grabbed a handgun from her purse as she heard someone outside the home, although police said she was in her right to defend herself. Chief of Police Ed Kraus said, "It makes sense that she would have a gun if she felt that she was being threatened or that there was someone in the back yard." Dean resigned as a police officer shortly after the shooting.

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