The Fort Worth police officer who shot and killed an unarmed woman in her home on Saturday has been arrested and charged with murder. Atatiana Jefferson's neighbor grew concerned after he noticed that the front and side doors of her home were open. After time passed, he wanted to make sure that everyone in the home was safe, so he called a non-emergency number and asked for someone to come by and perform a welfare check on his neighbor.
Former Officer Aaron Dean arrived on the scene and, as reportedly seen in his body camera footage, within minutes he looked through a bedroom window and saw something moving. He yelled, "Put your hands up, show me your hands" without announcing that he was a police officer, and instead of waiting on someone to follow his commands, he opened fire through the window. Atatiana was inside of her home playing video games with her eight-year-old nephew when she was shot and killed.
Activists, celebrities, and concerned citizens stormed social media to air their grievances, and on Monday, Dean reportedly resigned from his position before the Fort Worth Police Department could officially fire him. The New York Times now reports that Dean has formally been arrested and charged with murder, and is currently being held without bail.
"Nobody looked at that video and said there was any doubt that this officer acted inappropriately,” the Interim Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus said. James Smith, the neighbor who called for the welfare check, regrets contacting the police. “It makes you not want to call the police department," he stated. "Because not just Dallas or other incidents, if you don’t feel safe with the police department, then who do you feel safe with?" Smith said. "Do you just ignore crime or ignore something that’s not right? They tell you if you see something, say something. Well if you do that and you cause somebody to lose their life it makes you not want to do that and that’s sad.”
