Atatiana Jefferson’s Sister Files $10 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit
In 2019, Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was fatally shot by a Texas police officer through the window of her home as she played video games with her nephew.
Now, her sister has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, seeking $10 million in damages, according to CNN. The new lawsuit shows that the sister, Ashley Carr, filed a suit against the City of Fort Worth, Mayor Betsy Price, former police chief Ed Kraus and former police officer Aaron Dean.
In the suit, Carr alleges that Fort Worth “failed to properly train, supervise, screen, discipline, transfer, counsel or otherwise properly equip and control officers including those who are known, or who should have been known, to engage in the use of excessive force and/or deadly force.”
BET previously wrote that Jefferson was at her mother’s home on Oct. 12, 2019, when a neighbor called the police, reporting an open door. According to police, Officer Dean shot from outside through a window when he “perceived a threat.” In bodycam video, two officers responded to the scene and one shouted “put your hands up, show me your hands,” before the shot was fired. The officers did not identify themselves as police in the video.
Her nephew later told authorities that the two were playing video games when Jefferson heard a noise that she thought were intruders. She drew a handgun, which she was licensed to carry, from her purse before being struck by gunfire.
Dean resigned from the Fort Worth Police Department shortly before being charged for Jefferson’s murder. He was released on a $200,000 bond two days after the shooting. The coronavirus pandemic has delayed Dean’s court hearings, The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
