The family of St. Lucian-born Botham Shem Jean is seeking justice as he becomes the latest name on the list of innocent black men killed by a white police officer.
Following a noise complaint made against him on September 6th, the 26 year old Dallas resident was coincidentally murdered in his Southside Flats Apartments home, in downtown Dallas, by his downstairs neighbor and off-duty Dallas police officer, Amber Guyger.
Guyger, 30, claimed she mistook Jean (her upstairs neighbor) as an intruder into her apartment. She stated that she shot the young accountant after he ignored her “verbal commands” though she was the one who barged into HIS apartment. Many are puzzled by her accounts. Video footage surfaced of a distraught and uniformed Guyger, pacing back and forth in the apartment complex, following the shooting, as her fellow officers approached the scene.
Following the shooting, Guyger was sent home and placed on administrative leave, however, subsequently arrested three days later by Texas Rangers on a manslaughter charge and released on $300,000 bail.
Her arrest came only after days of enraged protests, intensified phone calls for Guyger’s dismissal and accusations that the Dallas Police Department was showing deferential treatment, until Police Chief U. Renee Hall finally fired Guyger. According to the Dallas News, the statement released by the local police said Hall fired Guyger after an internal investigation found the officer had engaged in “adverse conduct” when she was charged with manslaughter three days after the shooting.
There are many contradicting accounts of what occurred that night in Dallas. Check out this earlier report from CNN;
As with many high profile police shooting of black men, Shem’s character was then placed on international scrutiny and his image smeared as the Dallas PD issued and executed a search warrant on the slain innocent man’s home. They allegedly uncovered 10.4 GRAMS of marijuana. Guyger’s toxicology report was never released – if it was even taken at all. Did she undergo a polygraph test or even a mental evaluation following the shooting? Many questions, as with similar cases, are left unanswered.
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Lawyers for Botham Shem’s family view Guyger’s dismissal and arrest as a victory, however, they are actively pursuing that she be charged with a harsher crime. Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson has said a grand jury could upgrade Guyger’s charge to murder.
Many questions remain unanswered as the public awaits the development of this case. Meanwhile, Jean’s mother, Allison Jean, said several questions about her son’s death remain unanswered.
“The number one answer that I want is, ‘What happened?’” Allison Jean told the Washington Post. “I have asked too many questions, and I’ve been told that there are no answers yet. I’m looking forward to the powers that be to come up with the answers to make me more satisfied that they are doing what is in the best interest of getting justice for Botham.”
Shem’s funeral took place on September 24th at Minor Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Castries and he was laid to rest in his homeland, St. Lucia.
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