The former Dallas police officer convicted of murdering Botham Jean lost her initial appeal Thursday asking for her conviction to be tossed out or to be sentenced on a lesser charge.
Amber Guyger is currently serving a 10-year sentence for murder for killing Jean.
Guyger lived in the same apartment complex, one floor directly below Jean, and she said she mistook him for an intruder when she entered his apartment instead of her own three years ago and fatally shot him, she said, because she feared for her life.
Guyger's lawyers said last year they intended to ask an appeals court to throw out her conviction or be sentenced on a lesser charge of negligent homicide, which her defense continued to assert better represented her actions than murder.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
On Thursday, the appeals court issued the ruling upholding the murder conviction.
Guyger and her attorneys will be able to file another appeal.
An attorney for Botham Jean's family said they will be relieved to hear the court's decision and that they're not shocked by the result.
NBC 5 took an in-depth look at the life of Botham Jean and the trial of Amber Guyger in a special digital series Crossroads of Change. Episode 1 is below. Watch the entire series on your TV in our Roku and Apple TV app.
