*Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, who was convicted in the fatal shooting of Botham Jean in his apartment in 2018, was denied parole last week.
“I wasn’t expecting a response so quickly. We were interviewed on Monday by the parole commissioner, the lead commissioner. It feels like a load lifted,” Allisa Charles-Findley, sister of Botham Jean told WFAA.
The Texas Department of Criminal Justice informed the family of the decision in an email that said in part, “This is to notify you that the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles denied parole for this offender on 10-10-24 until the next review date scheduled for 10-10-26. Should the board receive additional information that may return the case to the review process earlier you will be notified.”
As we reported earlier, Guyger, who shot and killed Jean in September 2018, attracted national attention and sparked protests around the city. Guyger told authorities she confused Botham’s apartment for her own. Her body-worn camera was not recording during the shooting because she was off duty. She was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2019. She appealed the conviction but lost her appeal two years ago.
“She’s caused my family tremendous, tremendous hurt, tremendous pain,” Allison Jean, Botham’s mother, previously stated. “She ought to remain where she is.”
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Guyger was up for parole last month on what would have been Botham’s 33rd birthday.
“She needs to serve her entire 10-year term, which is well below a sentence that one receives for murder,” Jean added. “Murder of an innocent man in the comfort of his home, doing nothing wrong.”
“So we have another two years of peace before we have to go through that again,” Finley said following the parole board’s decicion . “I will sleep so much better.”
“I have always felt that the 10-year sentence was inadequate,” Allison Jean, Botham’s mother, told WFAA during an interview last month. “If they have given her ten years — then she deserves to stay in prison for the 10-year period.”
The legal team representing the family of Botham Jean, including Ben Crump Law, the Washington Law Firm and Romanucci & Blandin released the following statement: “The family of Botham Jean is relieved by today’s decision to deny parole to former Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger. This is one very important component of justice for them for the senseless death of their brother and son while he was unarmed and minding his own business in his own home.”
Guyger’s next parole review is set for October 2026.
READ MORE FROM EURWEB.COM: Former Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger Now Eligible for Parole Six Years After Murder of Botham Jean | WATCH
