Family of Woman Shot, Killed Inside Home by FW Police Retains Attorney
By
Lili Zheng
Published Oct 12, 2019 at 9:35 PM | Updated at 12:30 AM CDT on Oct 13, 2019
The family of a woman
shot and killed by a Fort Worth police officer in her own home have retained an attorney.
The shooting happened just before 2:30 a.m. Saturday on the 1200 block of East Allen Avenue. Inside the home, the family of 28-year-old Atatiana Jefferson said she was watching her 8-year-old nephew.
"She didn't do anything wrong, but she's inside of her home, trying to protect her home and my son that's inside. She's not a threat. She's a college graduate," Jefferson's older sister Amber Carr said. "You want to see justice, but justice don't bring my sister back."
Police responded to the home after a call from a neighbor indicating a front door was open. The neighbor, James Smith, said he noticed all of the lights were on. There was no movement in the house, so he called the non-emergency line asking for a welfare check.
"There was no reason for her to be dead, because there was nothing violent going on, there was no distress at this particular property. They had no reason to come here with guns drawn," Smith said. "I'm shaken, I'm mad and I'm upset, and I feel like it's probably my fault because if I had never called the police department, she'd still be alive."
Body camera video released by the Fort Worth Police Department shows the officer walking around outside the house with a flashlight. He then stops, points his flashlight at a window and then draws his gun after seeing a person watching himself from inside the house.
The officer is heard commanding, "Put your hands up, show me your hands" before firing his weapon once.
In a press release, police said the shot was fired after "perceiving a threat" but did not specify what the threat was. Once officers entered the home, they located Jefferson and a firearm and began providing emergency medical care.
The family's attorney, Lee Merritt, said it was "reckless and irresponsible" to release a picture of the firearm found without context of how it was used – if, at all.
"It's something the community has seen over and over again where the character of the victim gets called into question," Merritt told reporters. "There was nothing nefarious or illegal about owning a firearm and they presented in nowhere that firearm was contributory towards the use of deadly force here."
Continued @
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