Former Dallas officer Amber Guyger to be released from prison next week
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Amber Guyger granted parole 7 years after murder conviction
Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who was convicted of murdering Botham Jean in 2019, has been granted parole after serving seven years of a 10 year sentence. FOX 4's Shaun Rabb has more.
DALLAS - Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer who was convicted of murdering a man in his apartment, will be released from prison next week.
What's new:
Texas Department of Criminal Justice inmate records now indicate that Guyger is scheduled to be released from the Christina Melton Crain Unit in Gatesville, Texas on Oct. 16.
Before she is released, she will receive the conditions of her parole and will be assigned a parole officer that she must report to.
The backstory:
Guyger was convicted of murdering her upstairs neighbor, Botham Jean, in 2018 after returning home from a more than 13-hour shift. Her defense attorney argued she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own and shot him thinking he was a burglar inside her apartment.
Jurors sentenced her to 10 years for the murder. She was denied parole in 2024 after serving half of her sentence. But last week, the parole board agreed to her early release.
What they're saying:
Jean’s family released a statement after noting that statements made to the media on their behalf by attorney Lee Merritt were not authorized.
"The past eight years have been an incredibly traumatic and painful experience for Botham Jean’s family. The loss of Botham has left our family forever dismembered, and that is something we continue to live with every day," the family said.
According to the statement, Merritt hasn’t represented the family since 2022.
"He does not represent us in any capacity, nor does he speak on behalf of our family," they said.
The Source: The information in this story comes from TDCJ inmate records, statements from the victim's family, and past news coverage.