Father dies weeks after daughter is shot and killed by Texas officer
The father of Atatiana Jefferson, a black woman who was shot to death by a police officer inside her Fort Worth, Texas, home in October, has died, a family spokesperson confirmed. Bruce Carter told the Dallas Morning News that Marquis Jefferson suffered a heart attack and died at a Dallas hospital Saturday.
Carter said the 58-year-old Jefferson "died of a broken heart," CBS Dallas Fort / Worth reported.
On October 13, officers went to Jefferson's house after a neighbor called the department's non-emergency number, saying the front door of the home had been left open. Jefferson had been up late playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, her family has said.
The Fort Worth police department said Officer Aaron Dean perceived a threat before firing the shot into the house that killed Jefferson. But bodycam video showed Dean fired less than a second after yelling for Atatiana Jefferson to show her hands and that he never identified himself as law enforcement.
Dean, who is white, resigned and was charged with her murder.
Jefferson told CBS DFW last month that his daughter's death was "senseless."
"Her mother called me yesterday morning. She say 'Tay was shot,'" he recalled. "I mean it's senseless. My daughter was 28. My daughter was 28-years-old. Had her whole life in front of her."