Recap: Day 1 of murder trial of Aaron Dean included testimony from Atatiana Jefferson’s nephew

The murder trial of former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean began shortly after 9 a.m. today with opening statements and the testimony of Atatiana Jefferson’s young nephew Zion Carr.

Follow live updates from the trial here.

After hearing arguments from the attorneys this morning, 396th District Court Judge George Gallagher denied the defense’s motion to move the trial out of Tarrant County. The defense filed that motion before the jury selection process, arguing that Dean could not receive a fair trial here.

Dean is on trial in the death of Atatiana Jefferson, who he shot through a window at her home while responding to a neighbor’s call about open doors at the house on East Allen Avenue on Oct. 12, 2019.

Prosecution says officer didn’t see gun

In an emotional opening statement, prosecutor Ashlea Deener told the jury the evidence will show that Dean did not act in self-defense and that he never said he saw Jefferson with a gun.

“This is a case about a Fort Worth police officer, a stranger to Atatiana, who shot through her bedroom window in the middle of the night when she was in her home and should have been safe,” Deener said.

“You are going to hear that this is an absolutely intentional act, an unjustifiable act,” she said. “It never should have happened.”

Jefferson and her 8-year-old nephew Zion had opened the doors at their home to let out smoke after Zion burned hamburgers he was cooking, Zion testified Monday. They were playing video games in Jefferson’s bedroom at the time of the shooting.

What Jefferson and Zion didn’t know, Deener told the jury, was that neighbor James Smith had called a police non-emergency number about the open doors and that two officers — Dean and Carol Darch — where in their back yard investigating.

Jefferson heard noises in the yard and saw flashlights, Deener said. “She thinks, “I’m going to have to protect us from whatever this is,’” gets her handgun from her purse and peers out the window, Deener said.

On the body-camera video, jurors will hear Dean shout, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” and then immediately fire his gun once, the prosecutor said. He did not say “gun” as officers are trained to do when they see a gun, and did not identify himself as an officer, she said.

“It’s not fast enough for Atatiana to process and follow the commands of the stranger in her back yard,” Deener said.

After the shooting, body-camera video shows Dean search Jefferson’s room and appear relieved to find her gun on the floor, Deener said.

“This was not a circumstance where he staring down the barrel of a gun and had to defend himself,” Deener said. “This is not a justification. This is not a self-defense case. This is murder.”

Defense says Dean protected himself, partner

In the defense opening statement, attorney Miles Brissette said Dean saw a silhouette in the window holding a handgun with “a green laser mounted on it pointing directly at him.”

The defense says the evidence will show that Dean acted in self-defense and that his actions were reasonable.

Dean’s partner was behind him and he had nowhere to go, Brissette told the jury.

Dean drew “his weapon for first and only time right then and fires one shot and tragically Atatiana Jefferson is killed as a result of that,” Brissette said.

Dean could not tell the race or gender of the person from the silhouette and only saw the person pointing the gun, he said.

Brissette said the officers followed procedure for an open structure call, which is how it was classified by the dispatcher. The information they had was that the doors were open at about 2:30 in the morning, all the lights were on and the family’s cars were in the driveway.

On an open structure call, for their own safety, two officers are supposed to respond and inspect the structure for signs of forced entry while not revealing their position, the defense attorney said.

At the front and side of the house, the glass storm doors were closed but the main doors were open. Through the door, the officers saw a mess that led them to believe a burglary might be in progress, Brissette said. The kitchen cabinets were open with “stuff strewn on the floor” and living room “looked like it be ransacked.”

Brissette also called the area “a rough neighborhood” and noted a steel cage around the air-conditioner next to Jefferson’s bedroom window, saying “things that are left outside at night tend to disappear.”

The defense asked the jury to consider only what Dean knew at the time he shot Jefferson.

“This is a tragic accident,” Brissette said. “That officer considered that to be deadly force against him and he reacted according and tragically Ms. Jefferson lost her life.”

Nephew testifies

The state called Zion Carr, now 11 years old, as the first witness.

He testified that at the time of the shooting he was living in his grandmother, Yolanda Carr’s home, with his grandmother and Jefferson, who he called “Aunt Tay.”

Jefferson was helping raise Zion while his mother, Amber Carr, was sick, and was also caring for her mother, who was in the hospital at the time of the shooting.

Zion testified that his aunt heard noises in the yard, got her handgun from her purse and walked to the window to look out. He said he doesn’t remember hearing the noises himself and doesn’t remember seeing police officers in the yard.

He said Jefferson was holding the gun down by her side and all he saw was her “fall to the floor.”

After she fell, “she started crying and after that two police officers came and got me,” Zion said.

“I was thinking it is a dream,” he said.

Zion said he knew his aunt was hurt but didn’t know what happened. “She was crying and just shaking,” he said.

He said the police took him outside to a patrol car, where he fell asleep, before being taken to speak to a forensic interviewer who works with children.

About two days later, Zion was told his aunt was dead, and “I was very upset” he said. The night of the shooting, he said, he was confused and thought it might have been a dream he wasn’t waking up from.

The attorneys noted differences in Zion’s testimony from what he told the forensic interviewer. In the interview that night, he talked about seeing the officer’s badge, seeing his aunt raise the gun, and said that his aunt didn’t do what Dean told her to do, according to the defense.

Zion appeared upset during his testimony and the judge called for a break before the defense cross-examined him. To many questions, he answered that he couldn’t remember some details.

Prosecutor Dale Smith asked Zion if his testimony Monday was his best recollection of what happened, and he said yes.

The attorneys agreed to review Zion’s original forensic interview and redact portions of it to determine whether it can be admitted as evidence.

At one point the judge removed a woman from the courtroom who he he said was gesturing to Zion during his testimony.

The judge also called attorney Lee Merritt, who represents the family in civil lawsuits, into the courtroom and told him not to watch the trial because he is on the witness list. Court officials said Merritt had been watching the trial from an adjoining courtroom where there is a video feed.

Defense attorneys also suggested the Merritt might have influence Zion’s testimony by talking to him about the case.

Case expected to last 2 weeks

On Friday, the court selected 12 jurors and two alternates, none of whom are Black. Eight men and six women were chosen. The majority appear to be white, while a few are people of color.

The case has received extensive media coverage and sparked protests in the community over a white officer killing a Black woman in her home.

Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was shot and killed through a window at her home on Oct. 12, 2019, by Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean. The former officer’s murder trial begins Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Tarrant County.
Atatiana Jefferson, 28, was shot and killed through a window at her home on Oct. 12, 2019, by Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean. The former officer’s murder trial begins Monday, Dec. 5, 2022, in Tarrant County.

Court was in session for a half day Monday because the funeral of defense attorney Jim Lane is scheduled for 2 p.m. The trial adjourned for the day about 11:30 a.m. Monday and will resume at 9 a.m. Tuesday.

The trial is expected to last about two weeks.

Legal experts believe the case will hinge on whether jurors believe Dean’s actions were reasonable under the state’s self-defense law.

Gallagher said that Dean has already told the court that if he is found guilty, he wants the jury to decide his punishment. He was required by law to make that decision before the trial begins. Dean’s attorneys also filed a document requesting that the jury give him probation if he is convicted.

The shooting

Jefferson, 28, had moved into her mother’s home on East Allen Avenue to help care for her mother as her health declined. On the night of the shooting, Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, who was the only witness inside the house.

A neighbor, James Smith, called a police non-emergency line about 2:25 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2019, after noticing doors open at the house, which he thought was unusual. Smith has said that his intent was for police to check on the welfare of the residents, but police classified the call as an open structure.

Dean and Officer Carol Darch responded to the home. Body-camera video released by the police department shows that Dean looked in the front door (which was open with the screen door closed), whispered to Darch, and walked along the driveway to the back of the house. He turned on his flashlight, walked through a gate into the back yard and stood next to a window.

Inside the house, according to the account Zion gave to a civilian forensic interviewer trained to question children, Jefferson told Zion “that she heard noises coming from outside and she took her handgun from her purse.”

Zion said, “Jefferson raised her handgun, pointed it toward the window, then Jefferson was shot and fell to the ground,” according to an affidavit supporting the warrant for Dean’s arrest.

The video shows Dean raise his handgun with his right hand while pointing the flashlight toward the window with his other hand. Dean yells, “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” and then immediately pulls the trigger, the video shows, firing once. He did not identify himself as an officer, according to police.

Aaron Dean, who is charged with the murder of Atatiana Jefferson, walks into the courtroom following a break in a pre-trial hearing on April 4, 2022, in Fort Worth. Dean’s trial begins today in Tarrant County.
Aaron Dean, who is charged with the murder of Atatiana Jefferson, walks into the courtroom following a break in a pre-trial hearing on April 4, 2022, in Fort Worth. Dean’s trial begins today in Tarrant County.

According to court documents, both officers went into the house, where Dean administered CPR while Darch took Zion outside. In the prosecution’s opening statement, Deener said Dean did not administer CPR but instead searched the room and seemed relieved when he found Jefferson’s gun on the floor.

Jefferson died at the scene.

Two days later, Dean, then 34 years old, resigned from the police department and was arrested. He has never made a public statement about the shooting.

Family members and protesters have called for justice in the case over the past three years as the trial has been delayed multiple times by the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduling issues with witnesses, and the recusal of original trial judge David Hagerman.

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