Just over a year after she fatally shot Botham Jean inside his own apartment, former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger took the stand Friday (Sept. 27) to testify about the night in question. Guyger, is currently facing murder charges for Jean’s death.
While testifying, the onetime police officer claimed to have been “scared to death” after she mistakenly walked into Jean’s apartment and fired two shots. She was uniformed at the time of the shooting, and had just returned back to her apartment complex after completing a 13-hour shift. Guyger, who lived below Jean, maintains that she thought she was in her apartment and assumed that he was an intruder. Rather than deescalating the situation, Guyger acknowledged that her intention was to shoot to kill. She told the court that she was “so sorry” for the fatal run-in and that she “wished” that Jean “was the one with the gun that killed me.”
Guyger, 31, added that she “never wanted to take an innocent person’s life.” Jean, a 26-year-old accountant and native of St. Lucia, was unarmed and eating ice cream when Guyger shot him to death. “Let me see your hands!” Guyger recalled shouting at Jean when she entered the unit. She alleges that he yelled “Hey! Hey! Hey!” at her in a “aggressive voice” before she opened fire.
During her testimony, Guyger cried and wiped away tears. But her apparent emotion did little to sway the prosecutor in the case who questioned why her focus wasn’t on performing CPR on Jean. Instead, Guyger performed a “sternum rub” on Jean while calling 911. During the call she spoke about potentially losing her job.
Guyger also left Jean unattended to meet paramedics and sent a text message to her married partner to set up an encounter for the night, the prosecutor alleged. Guyger’s attorney denied the claim of an alleged rendezvous, though Guyger did have a sexual relationship with the married man at one time. The two reportedly continued sexting each other after ending their physical relationship, but Guyger deleted the messages. “I was ashamed I was in a relationship with him. It’s embarrassing,” she said during cross examination.
According to ABC News, Guyger said that she gave Jean “a little CPR.” No blood was found on her clothing or shoes, and she failed to user her first aid kit.
Guyger was fired from the police department after killing Jean, and was later charged with murder.
See more on the trail in the video above.