Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted of killing her neighbor after mistakenly entering his apartment in 2018, was released on parole from a Texas prison Friday.
Guyger, 38, left the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville after serving roughly seven years of a 10-year sentence, NBC News reported, citing the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
She will complete the remainder of her sentence under community supervision, according to the department.
A jury convicted Guyger, who is white, of murder in October 2019 for fatally shooting Botham Jean, her 26-year-old Black neighbor, after she mistakenly entered his apartment.
Jean’s family objected to Guyger’s early release, though their attorney said their deepest anger had centered on the 10-year sentence handed down years earlier.
“We were opposed to her early release because we wanted her to at least do a maximum amount of time, the full 100%,” family attorney Lee Merritt told NBC on Friday.
Merritt said the family understood that serving the entire sentence was not guaranteed, but added that the greater frustration began when Guyger received what they viewed as a relatively short 10-year term.
Before Guyger’s release, her former trial attorney, Robert L. Rogers, told WFAA-TV that she already had housing and employment arranged.
“She’s been remorseful. She’s stayed remorseful. She’s still remorseful,” Rogers said.
Guyger had served with the Dallas Police Department for four years when she returned home from a 15-hour shift on Sept. 6, 2018.
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She testified that she mistakenly parked on the wrong floor of her apartment building, then walked into the unit directly above hers, believing it was her own.
Jean, an accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Dallas, was watching television in his living room when Guyger entered, according to evidence cited by WFAA-TV.
Guyger said she attempted to unlock the door, which opened when she pushed it. After seeing Jean, she claimed she feared for her life and believed he was an intruder before drawing her service weapon and shooting him.
Although she was off duty, Guyger was still wearing her police uniform. She was fired by the Dallas Police Department after the shooting.
Jurors reached a murder verdict in less than a day of deliberations.
Guyger’s parole came about two weeks after the Texas parole board approved her release on Oct. 1. She had previously been denied parole in September 2024, NBC reported.
“The Dallas Police Department understands this decision may bring renewed attention and emotion surrounding the tragic death of Botham Jean,” the department said in an Oct. 1 statement.
“Our thoughts remain with the Jean family and all those impacted by his loss.”
After the parole decision, Jean’s family issued a statement through Merritt saying: “Releasing Ms. Guyger after seven years makes that loss feel even smaller in the eyes of the system. It is not smaller.”
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
