After resigning on Monday (Oct. 14), former Dallas police officer Aaron Dean was arrested and charged for the murder of Atatiana Jefferson, ABC News reports. The 28-year-old was shot by Dean after her neighbor called for a welfare check when he noticed her house door was open. The incident occurred early Saturday (Oct. 12).
In addition to announcing Dean’s arrest, Fort Worth Police Chief Ed Kraus said he’s confused as to why Jefferson was killed and “on behalf of the men and women of the Fort Worth Police Department, I’m so sorry for what occurred.”
Jefferson’s family also issued a statement following Dean’s arrest, noting “We need to see this through to a vigorous prosecution & appropriate sentencing. The City of Fort Worth has much work to do to reform a brutal culture of policing.”
The family’s lawyer, Lee Meritt, said a series of actions should’ve taken place before Dean had the chance to resign. Jefferson was a pre-med graduate of Xavier University before she left Lousiana for Texas to support her family.
“The opportunity to resign is a slap in this family’s face and it’s a slap in the community’s face,” Merritt said. “He should have never been given that option. And I want us to stop treating this…like it’s a bad apple case. The saying is ‘a bad apple spoils the bunch.’ But the barrel is rotten from the core.”
An internal and criminal investigation of Dean’s actions is underway, Chief Kraus notes.
