How many years of prison will Aaron Dean serve? Former Texas officer sentenced over Atatiana Jefferson shooting

On Tuesday, December 20, former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean was sentenced to 11 years in prison over the fatal shooting of Atatiana Jefferson.

As per NBC, the shooting occurred in October 2019, when a neighbor of Atatiana Jefferson called authorities to report that the victim's front door was open at 2 am.

Aaron Dean, who was one of the responding officers to the scene, allegedly fired at Jefferson through the window of her home while she was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew.

Jefferson, who was reportedly armed at the time, supposedly aimed a firearm at Dean through the window. Dean later told the Texas court that he killed her believing she was an armed burglar.

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Why did Aaron Dean shoot Atatiana Jefferson?

According to Aaron Dean's attorney, Bob Gill, the former Fort Worth Officer believed he was responding to the scene of a burglary.

Prosecutors claimed that Jefferson may have heard the officer outside the house, leading her to arm herself in case they were potential burglars. As per CBS, the officers did not make it known that they were outside the house.

Bob Gill said that while Jefferson had the right to be armed, she should not have aimed her firearm at an officer.

He said:

"(Everything was alright) up until the point that she pointed a firearm at a Fort Worth police officer.”

Aaron Dean alleges that upon seeing Jefferson's gun, he fired. The former officer testified:

“I’m just looking right down the barrel of the gun, and when I saw the barrel of that gun pointed at me, I fired a single shot from my duty weapon."

However, as per prosecutor R. Dale Smith, there is no true indication that Dean felt that he was under threat of being shot, as he did not indicate the presence of a firearm to his partner at any point after he fired from his duty weapon.

Smith said:

“He never said there was a gun, because he didn’t know."

Kyle Clayton, a psychologist who profiled Dean, said that the officer was not mentally fit to be a police officer.

Clayton said:

"(Aaron Dean) was not psychologically suitable to serve as a police officer. (He) had a narcissistic personality style (that would) make him more likely to engage in behaviors that could put himself and others at risk.”

As per CNN, the shooting sparked outrage at the time, as Atatiana Jefferson is among several African-Americans who had allegedly been killed by police officers under unjust circumstances.

Jefferson's sister, Ashley Carr, condemned Dean's actions.

She said:

"My sister did not do anything wrong. She was in her home, which should have been the safest place for her to be."

Aaron Dean initially faced up to 20 years for the death of Atatiana Jefferson.