Trial Date Set For Ex-Fort Worth Police Officer Who Shot, Killed Atatiana Jefferson
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) — Aaron Dean, the former Fort Worth police officer charged with the murder of Atatiana Jefferson, now knows when his trial will begin.
On Tuesday morning a judge ruled jury selection in the case would begin on January 4 and the actual trial would start January 10.
Attorneys representing Dean are expected to file for a change of venue. Any motion requests from them, or prosecutors, will be heard on December 6.
Dean's case was among many that were delayed when the coronavirus pandemic caused courts in Texas and across the country to postpone jury trials.
Today there were more than 100 defendants scheduled to go before the judge -- Dean was among the group.
Dean, who recently turned 37, resigned from the city police force two days after shooting Jefferson. He was charged with murder and released on $200,000 bond.
Following the shooting, Fort Worth police released body camera footage that showed Dean walked around the side of the house, pushed through a gate into the fenced-off backyard and fired through a window a split-second after shouting at Jefferson to show her hands.
Officers had gone to the house after a neighbor called a non-emergency line to report that the front door was open and it was well after midnight. Dean was not heard identifying himself as a police officer on the video.
October 12 marked the two-year anniversary of Jefferson's death.
Her sisters are now demanding a judge sets Dean's trial date as soon as possible. "It's not right to put her on the back burner because she deserves way more than this," Ashley Carr said. "She deserves the accountability that we asked for. We asked for swift justice, this is not swift at all."
Atatiana Jefferson was 28 years old when she was killed.