Former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean is set to argue Tuesday that his conviction should be thrown out, almost a year after a jury declared him guilty of manslaughter for the on-duty killing of Atatiana Jefferson.
In 2019, Dean responded to a neighbor’s call about Jefferson’s doors being open in the early hours of the morning. Nothing was wrong inside the house — Jefferson was up playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew. Dean shot Jefferson through her bedroom window without identifying himself as a police officer, body camera footage shows.
Dean was indicted for murder but convicted on the lesser charge of manslaughter during his trial in December 2022. His attorneys have asked the appeals court to vacate his conviction. They’ll give oral arguments Tuesday in Texas’ 2nd Court of Appeals, at the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center in downtown Fort Worth, at 10 a.m., according to court documents.
The jury never should have had the option to convict Dean of manslaughter instead of murder, Dean’s defense team argued in its appeal, filed in August. His attorneys also argued that Dean had no chance at a fair trial in Tarrant County because of the local publicity surrounding the case.
Before the trial began, separate judges denied two separate requests to move Dean’s trial out of Tarrant County.
The fallout over Jefferson’s killing continues in civil court.
Last week, the Fort Worth City Council agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle a lawsuit from Jefferson’s family, the largest settlement in the city's history.
Got a tip? Email Miranda Suarez at msuarez@kera.org. You can follow Miranda on Twitter @MirandaRSuarez.
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