Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger denied parole for Botham Jean murder
DALLAS – A former Dallas police officer convicted of murdering Botham Jean in his apartment six years ago has been denied parole, Jean's family said Thursday.
Amber Guyger, who shot and killed the innocent man in September 2018, won't be eligible for consideration of parole until October 2026, said Alison Jean, Botham's mother.
"My family feels a sense of relief having gone through the process and made a strong petition for denial," she said. "So news coming in that the board considered our petition is a sense of elation, a sense of relief."
Guyger was up for parole on what would have been Botham's 33rd birthday.
"She needs to serve her entire 10-year term, which is well below a sentence that one receives for murder," Jean recently told CBS News Texas. "Murder of an innocent man in the comfort of his home, doing nothing wrong."
The Texas Board of Pardons & Paroles made the decision.
Guyger, a Dallas police officer at the time, told authorities she confused Botham's apartment for her own. Her body-worn camera was not recording during the shooting because she was off duty.
Guyger was convicted of murder and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2019. She appealed the conviction but lost her appeal two years ago.