What to Know
- On Day 2, jurors watched Zion Carr’s forensic interview taken the morning after the shooting.
- Officer Carol Darch, who was Aaron Dean's partner on the force, takes the stand. She answered the call with Aaron Dean the night Atatiana Jefferson was shot and killed.
- Video captured from Aaron Dean’s body cam was shown, previously released by Fort Worth police.
The murder trial of former Fort Worth police officer Aaron Dean entered its second day Tuesday with testimony from his former partner, a 911 call taker and the man who called 911 about an open door at his neighbor's home.
Dean shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson through a window of her mother’s Fort Worth home on Oct. 12, 2019. He was one of the officers who responded to a non-emergency call by a neighbor.
The high-profile story of Jefferson's death gained national attention and caused protests against police brutality across North Texas.
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DAY 2 OF THE THE AARON DEAN TRIAL IN THE SHOOTING DEATH OF ATATIANA JEFFERSON
On Tuesday jurors watched a forensic interview with Jefferson's nephew, Zion Carr, taken at about 4:45 a.m. on the morning after the shooting.
The interview shows that the child has offered contradictory accounts of whether his aunt pointed her pistol out the window. He testified on the trial's opening day that she always had the gun down, but said in a recorded interview soon after the shooting that she pointed it at the window.
While getting emotional throughout the interview, Carr said he didn’t hear anything in the backyard but said he saw a gun out the window and also thought he saw a badge and flashlight. He said he heard someone yell, “Put your hands up.”
He said police then shot Jefferson, “because she went like this,” he said while gesturing his arms and hands to mimic a gun being pointed.
Defense lawyers implied they believed the boy was coached to give an account different from his forensic interview.
AARON DEAN'S PARTNER OFFICER CAROL DARCH TAKES THE STAND
Fort Worth Police Officer Carol Darch, who was Aaron Dean's partner on the force, took the stand Tuesday. She was the officer who answered the call with Aaron Dean when Dean shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson.
Prosecutors questioned the officer about Fort Worth Police Department's training and procedures, including how calls are handled.
Darch said she graduated from the academy at the same time as Dean, but she started solo patrols later because of surgery.
She testified about the difference between “open structure” and “welfare check” calls as well as “burglary-in-progress.” They were responding to an "open structure" call when Dean shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson.
Darch also explained why she didn’t have a body camera on the night of the shooting. She said she wasn't wearing a body camera because her camera was missing from the "dock station" where it should have been. The dock is used to charge and upload video.
When they first arrived, Darch testified they initially approached the wrong house nearby. Once they got to the correct house, she said she did not take her gun out. She also said she thought it was unusual for a door to be open at that hour.
Darch said she thought Jefferson's home looked like it had been burglarized when they looked inside.
“It looked like someone had methodically gone through the house,” she said, adding that she didn’t hear anything in front of the home.
Darch testified they started walking toward the side door and backyard and said Dean took the lead as they went into the backyard and that they did not call for backup. Darch also said they didn't knock on any doors or announce themselves.
She noted that they did not park directly in front of the house, adding it was better to not park in front in case there is an intruder/burglar inside because knowing the police were outside could give them a chance to escape.
Darch's testimony spoke to the key issue in the case: whether Dean saw Jefferson's gun before he opened fire. Dean's lawyers said the white officer saw the weapon, while prosecutors contend that the evidence will show otherwise.
Darch said she turned around, saw Dean and, over his right shoulder, what she later learned to be Jefferson's face in the window.
"The only thing I could see was eyes, really. I couldn't make out if it was a male or a female. I just saw someone in the window and I saw their eyes as big as saucers," Darch said.
Dean's attorney said Monday that Dean opened fire after seeing the silhouette of Jefferson with a gun in the window and a green laser sight pointed at him.
Darch described the moment she and Dean encountered Jefferson and when she heard Dean start to give commands to a person on the property.
"I heard him give commands, I started turning. I was halfway through my turn and I heard the shot," Darch said.
A very intense video from body camera footage was played in court, revealing the seconds before and after Dean fired his weapon killing Jefferson. In the video, you can see the two officers on the scene move inside the house after a single gunshot is fired.
Darch testified that she never saw Jefferson's gun and also said she never heard Dean announce "gun" before he opened fire. She said he didn't mention a weapon as the two of them rushed into the house, a recollection supported by the bodycam footage played in court.
In the footage, the officers could be heard yelling "hands up" and "show me your hands" as they searched the house, but Dean couldn't be heard mentioning a weapon until he was looking at the gun next to Jefferson's body.
After seeing Jefferson on the floor and Carr crying, Darch said she wrapped the little boy in a blanket and whisked him out to the curb. She acknowledged that neither she nor Dean rendered aid to Jefferson and said her greatest concern was Carr's "well-being" while becoming visibly emotional, asking the judge to take a break.
"As soon as I came through the door," she said, "I heard the baby and that became my sole focus."
911 CALL TAKER TESTIFIES TUESDAY AFTERNOON
On Tuesday afternoon, 911 call taker Abriel Talbert testified about the non-emergency call she answered on the night of the shooting.
Talbert talked about the various priorities that are assigned to calls coming into the call center. She said there were four different priority levels ranging from a crime in progress with a person in danger to a non-emergency call and that part of her job was to assign a priority level based on the call details.
Talbert said that on the night of the shooting she fielded a call about an open structure call and that it was titled a priority two open structure call because the door to the home was open.
MAN CALLS 911 TO ASK FOR POLICE TO CHECK NEIGHBOR'S HOME
James Smith, the man who lived near Yolanda Carr's home on East Allen Avenue, where Atatiana Jefferson was staying with her nephew on the night of the shooting, testified Tuesday about the call he placed to 911.
Smith said he and his family had lived along Allen Avenue for several decades and that they had owned several properties in the area.
Smith's 911 call, which was made at about 2:38 a.m., was played for the jury. In the call, jurors heard him say the front door of his neighbor's home had been open for several hours and that it was unusual.
Smith told defense attorneys he'd never seen the front door of the home open and that when he walked close to the door he didn't see anyone who lived there inside so he decided to call 911.
Zion Carr, Jefferson's nephew, testified Monday that the front door had been opened to ventilate the home after they burned some hamburgers. He said they forgot the door had been left open and they were playing video games in a different part of the home when police arrived.
In court on Tuesday, Smith was shown a photo of the exterior of the Carr home with two cars in the driveway that he said he recognized as belonging to Jefferson and Carr.
Smith said he was sitting on the front porch of his sister's home across the street from the Carr's home when police arrived. He said he saw the officers walk near the front door and then go around the back. He said it wasn't long before he heard a commotion followed by a gunshot.
He said he feels somewhat responsible for the shooting and that he's lived with it every day since it happened.
During cross-examination, Smith was asked about his opinion of crime in the neighborhood.
"My opinion, it could be less. It should be less," he said.
"But it’s not. It’s more," said one of Dean's attorneys.
"I didn’t say more, but it should be less than what it is," Smith answered.
After Smith's testimony, the judge concluded the session for the day. The trial will resume Wednesday morning.
DOCUSERIES: THE DEATH OF ATATIANA JEFFERSON
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