Sister, Forensic Pathologist Testify In Murder Trial Of Ex-Cop In Atatiana Jefferson’s Death
Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday (Dec. 7) in the murder trial of the former Fort Worth, Texas police officer who fatally shot Atatiana Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, at her home in 2019.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Jefferson’s sister, Ashley Carr, was the last prosecution witness to testify against ex-offer Aaron Dean before the defense presents its case to the jury on Monday.
Jefferson was playing a video game with her then 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, on Oct. 12, 2019, at 2:25 a.m., when she pulled a gun from her purse after hearing a suspicious noise in the backyard. Dean, who is white, fired through a bedroom window, striking Jefferson, while responding to a neighbor’s safety check call because Jefferson’s door was open.
Police body-camera footage showed Dean didn't identify himself as a police officer. He has pleaded not guilty to murder.
According to the prosecution, Dean never saw Jefferson’s gun and was too quick to pull the trigger. But the defense intends to prove that Jefferson did point her gun at the responding officers and Dean fired in self-defense.
On Wednesday, Carr gave personal testimony about her sister, the youngest of four siblings. She said “Tay,” as Jefferson’s family called her, moved into the house to care for their ailing mother. Jefferson, a 2014 graduate of Xavier University, was working in the pharmaceutical industry and saving money for medical school.
The defense has maintained that the house was in a high-crime area. But Carr testified that her mother would leave the side door unlocked, adding that it was a “you just pull up and come in” type of house, according to the Star-Telegram.
The deputy medical examiner, Richard Fries, who performed Jefferson’s autopsy testified Wednesday that her death was a homicide stemming from a gunshot wound to the torso. A bullet hit her left upper chest and traveled down to the right, lodging in her right lower back.
Fries testified that the bullet hit her heart, liver and kidney. Jefferson bled to death and probably would not have survived if paramedics took her immediately to a hospital. However, Jefferson did not die right away, he stated. She was heard crying and groaning on Dean’s body-camera video.
Prosecutors noted that Dean did not perform any first aid on Jefferson. Paramedic Francisco Chairez testified that someone from the local fire department was performing chest compressions on Jefferson when he arrived, and he continued the life-saving procedures for 20 minutes more.
Zion, the only witness inside the house with Jefferson, testified on Monday (Dec. 5) that he did not see his aunt point her gun at the officers. Zion, who was 8 at the time, testified that she held her gun down by her side and that he didn’t see the officers in the yard.
The defense rebutted his testimony on Tuesday by playing a video of Zion’s account of the incident recorded about two hours after the shooting. At that time, he stated that his aunt pointed her gun at the window and that he observed the officer’s badge, gun and flashlight through the window.
When cross-examined on Monday, Zion testified that he did not recall that earlier statement.
S. Lee Merritt, an attorney for Jefferson’s family, told CNN in 2020 that Zion suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dean’s defense team is expected to present about two days of witness testimony when the trial resumes next week.
