Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted of killing her Black neighbor, has been released from prison after serving seven years of a 10-year sentence.
Guyger was granted parole on Thursday in connection with the 2018 shooting death of Botham Jean, a case that drew national attention.
Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, was shot and killed by Guyger, now 38, on the night of September 6, 2018.
Guyger, who was off duty but still wearing her police uniform, said she mistakenly entered Jean’s apartment believing it was her own. She told investigators she thought Jean was a burglar before opening fire.
A jury convicted Guyger of murder in October 2019, and she was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
The precise date of her release from the Patrick L. O’Daniel Unit in Gatesville, roughly 40 miles outside Waco, was not immediately clear.
Guyger was denied parole in 2024. However, a board spokesperson said her latest petition was approved because her prison record did not show a documented pattern of violence, The Dallas Morning News reported.
The parole board also cited Guyger’s “satisfactory institutional adjustment” and completion of a treatment plan that officials said “should enhance” her prospects of securing full-time employment, according to the newspaper.
Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger has been granted parole after receiving a 10-year sentence for the killing of Botham Jean
Botham Jean, a 26-year-old accountant, was fatally shot by Guyger on September 6, 2018
Lee Merritt, the civil rights attorney who represented Jean’s family during the trial, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the parole decision.
“Botham’s family and the community strongly opposed this parole,” Merritt said in a statement.
“They stood up again and again to ask that the full sentence be served….Releasing Ms. Guyger after seven years makes that loss feel even smaller in the eyes of the system. It is not smaller.”
Guyger said she became confused on the night of the shooting and mistakenly went to Jean’s apartment. She lived on the third floor of the building, while Jean’s home was one floor above.
Believing Jean was an intruder, Guyger fired her weapon twice.
Though she was off duty, Guyger was still wearing her uniform and used her department-issued firearm during the encounter.
The Dallas Police Department dismissed her several weeks after Jean’s death. She was initially charged with manslaughter.
A grand jury later indicted Guyger on a murder charge. During the case, she argued that her mistaken belief that she was inside her own apartment should have supported a self-defense claim.
Civil rights attorney Lee Merritt, shown with Guyger on the stand in 2019, said he was “deeply disappointed” by the parole decision
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Botham Jean has been remembered as a devout Catholic with a strong interest in social justice
During her trial, prosecutors pointed to a series of text messages that Guyger exchanged with her partner, Officer Martin Rivera, at the time of the shooting.
Rivera, who was in a sexual relationship with Guyger, told the court that he would often send her provocative images of himself.
Just hours before the killing, the two of them sent sexually explicit messages to each other, including one where Guyger told her partner that she was ‘super horny today,’ NBC News reported.
She had worked a 13-and-a-half-hour shift that day, and at about 9.30pm, she sent a Snapchat message to Rivera that read: ‘Wanna touch?’ according to the report.
Guyger called 911 that night, and Jean was alive when officers and paramedics arrived, but he could not communicate.
Earbuds were found next to him in the home, suggesting that he might have had them on when Guyger entered his home. He was also eating ice cream when she came inside.
Although she was off-duty, she still had her uniform on and used her service weapon in the shooting
The case and Guyger’s trial garnered national attention, especially when Jean’s brother hugged her and said: ‘I forgive you.’
‘I love you as a person and I don’t wish anything bad on you,’ Brandt Jean, then 18, told Guyger at the time.
Another unlikely embrace then took place between Guyger and the judge who presided over her case.
After the trial wrapped up and she gave the ex-cop her sentence, Judge Tammy Kemp walked over and handed Guyger a bible.
She then wrapped her arms around Guyger as they prayed together, The Texas Tribune reported.
After the trial wrapped up and she gave the ex-cop her sentence, Judge Tammy Kemp walked over and handed Guyger a bible. She then embraced her as they prayed together
Guyger first became eligible for parole on September 29, 2024 – what would have been Jean’s 33rd birthday.
The motion was denied after Jean’s family and the Dallas County district attorney’s office protested the request. More than 6,300 people also signed a petition demanding she be kept in jail.
By the end of that year, Jean’s family was awarded $95.65 million after filing a federal lawsuit against Guyger and the city.
The city was dismissed from the lawsuit, which alleged that Guyger violated the victim’s constitutional rights and used excessive force, and that poor policies within the department led to his death.
Our News Outlet contacted the Dallas County district attorney’s office and Merritt for comment.
