A federal jury on Wednesday ordered a former Dallas police officer to pay nearly $100 million to the family of a man she fatally shot in his apartment in 2018.
Amber Guyger is serving a 10-year sentence for the murder of Botham Jean, a 26-year-old Black man who lived in the same building. At trial, Guyger testified that she returned from an extended police shift and incorrectly believed she had entered her apartment and thought Jean was an intruder. She was fired from the Dallas Police Department after the shooting.
After closing arguments Wednesday, a jury concluded Guyger had used excessive force in fatally shooting Jean and acted under the color of law, ordering her to pay a total of $98.6 million to Jean’s estate and his parents, Allison and Bertrum Jean, including $60 million in punitive damages.
Daryl Washington, the family’s attorney, told USA TODAY the jury decision “sends a message loud and clear that police brutality is not going to be accepted.”
“I think whenever verdicts like this come out, it has a potential of saving lives,” Washington said. “It’s going to really force a police officer to think deep and long before they decide to use deadly force in a situation where it’s not justifiable.”