A federal jury has ordered Amber Guyger to pay $98,650,000 to the family and estate of Botham Jean after they filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the former Dallas police officer.
As previously reported by Face2Face Africa, Jean, an unarmed Black man, was in his apartment when Guyger shot and killed him in 2018. Guyger was handed a 10-year prison sentence in October 2019 on the charge of murder.
Her attorneys had argued that she shot Jean on September 6, 2018, as a means of self-defense. In the wake of the fatal incident, Guyger also said that she had returned from work to the apartment she thought was hers.
The deliberation by the jurors before they ruled in favor of Jean’s family and estate took about three hours, KERA News reported. The jurors determined that Guyger used excessive force when she fatally shot Jean.
Besides that, the jurors also determined that Guyger was in the line of duty at the time of the fatal shooting, adding that her excessive use of deadly force violated Jean’s constitutional rights.
Guyger was ultimately ordered to pay Jean’s estate $10.25 million for the deceased Black man’s pain, loss of life, and earnings. Jean’s parents were each awarded $14.2 million for their past and future loss and mental anguish. The jury also ordered Guyger to pay an additional $60 million in punitive damages, KERA News reported.
“They had to put it in monetary terms,” Jean’s mother, Allison Jean, said after the verdict. “I cannot feel it in monetary terms because I know how precious he was to me. But it sends a signal to the world that his life mattered.”
Jean’s father, Bertrum Jean, also welcomed the verdict. “We will miss our Bo dearly,” said Bertrum Jean. “I can’t stand the thought of him not being around. But his memories, the wonderful things he did in this life, this gives me joy. And (to) know that he was loved by so many, this gives me joy.”
Guyger was not represented by an attorney during the three-day trial, and she also waived her right to appear before the court – an action the plaintiffs’ attorney said was an “insult.”
Since Guyger is currently locked up without any assets, it is unclear how she will be able to compensate the plaintiffs. Jean’s family and their attorney Daryl Washington, however, said that money is not the issue, and they rather want Guyger to face the consequences of her actions.
“We want to make sure when Amber Guyger is released from prison that Amber Guyger is not going to have a life,” Washington said. “She’s not going to have a normal life, she’s not going to be able to capitalize on any fame that she may have gotten from this case.”
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