The ex-Dallas police officer sentenced for murder in the 2018 shooting of a Black man in his apartment has been approved for parole.
Amber Guyger, 38, shot and killed Botham Jean, then 26, in 2018 after she said she mistook his apartment as her own and thought Jean was an intruder. She was convicted of murder and given a 10-year sentence.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Oct. 1 approved her for parole after seven years of her sentence had passed. It's not clear when she will be released from the Patrick L. O'Daniel Unit, the women's prison where she has been incarcerated.
The case drew nationwide attention and protest amid a wave of attention to police shootings of Black Americans. Guyger, who is White, was fired from the Dallas Police
Department after the shooting.
Guyger was ordered to pay nearly $100 million to Jean's family in a civil trial after a jury found she used excessive force.
Attorney Lee Merritt that Jean's family opposed to Guyger's parole.
"Justice cannot be selective. When a life is taken without cause, accountability has to mean something, for everyone. Today's decision tells grieving families it can be cut short," Merritt said.
The shooting of Botham Jean
Jean was sitting in his apartment eating ice cream the evening of Sept. 6, 2018, prosecutors said. Guyger, who lived one floor below Jean in their apartment building, came through the door and shot him.
Guyger said that after a long patrol shift, she went to the wrong floor and believed she was entering her own apartment. She thought Jean was an intruder and acted in self-defense, she said.
She shot Jean in the chest using her police firearm. Prosecutors said Guyger called 911, but didn't render aid to Jean.
Guyger's trial was notable for an action taken by Jean's brother, Brandt Jean, who hugged Guyger after her sentencing.
Amber Guyger gets parole after 7 years
The parole board said in its decision that Guyger didn't have a record of a pattern of violent or assaultive arrests or convictions. She "maintained a satisfactory institutional adjustment," the board said.
Guyger was sentenced in October 2019. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 28 years.
Dallas Police Department spokesperson Allison B. Hudson told USA TODAY in a statement that the police department "had no role in this decision."
“The Dallas Police Department understands this decision may bring renewed attention and emotion surrounding the tragic death of Botham Jean. Our thoughts remain with the Jean family and all those impacted by his loss," the statement reads.
Contributing: Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amber Guyger, ex-cop who shot neighbor in his apartment, gets parole
