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Date Set For Murder Trial Of Former Texas Officer Accused Of Killing Atatiana Jefferson

The trial will start more than two years after the ex-cop fatally shot the Black woman at her home.

A judge in Texas has scheduled Jan. 10, 2022 as the new trial date of the former Fort Worth officer accused of killing Atatiana Jefferson, WFAA reports.

Aaron Dean, who fatally shot Jefferson in October 2019 and charged with murder, was set to stand trial on Nov. 16, which was itself delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Preliminary trial motions will begin on Dec. 6, and a jury is expected to be seated on Jan. 4.

Jefferson, who is Black, was playing video games in the early hours of the morning with her 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr. Her apartment’s front door was left ajar to let in the night breeze. However, a neighbor called the police to report the open door.

Dean and his partner opened a fence gate and walked into the backyard. Body-camera footage captured Dean shining his flashlight through the back window of the house. Jefferson heard movement outside and picked up her firearm and went to investigate.  As Jefferson looked out her back window, Dean opened fire, killing her.

According to WFAA, an arrest warrant stated that Dean failed to announce that he was an officer.

After the shooting, he declined, as is customary, to give a statement explaining why he fired his weapon to investigators and the police internal affairs department. Dean opted to resign before the police department terminated him.

There was a loud demand for justice after the shooting, as protesters called for murder charges and a trial of Dean, as KDFW reported two years ago. They were troubled that the officer was responding to a wellness check but opened fire immediately on Jefferson, 28, through her window.

Jefferson’s sister filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Fort Worth, former Mayor Betsy Price, former police chief Ed Kraus, and Dean, CNN reported.

RELATED: Family of Atatiana Jefferson Files Federal Suit Against Against City of Fort Worth

RELATED: Atatiana Jefferson’s Sister Files $10 Million Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Ashley Carr alleges that Fort Worth "failed to properly train, supervise, screen, discipline, transfer, counsel or otherwise properly equip and control officers including those who are known, or who should have been known, to engage in the use of excessive force and/or deadly force."

Further, the suit accused Kraus and Price of being aware of the "failures of the Fort Worth Police Department" and didn't "rectify the failures and adequately protect the constitutional rights of the people of Fort Worth."

The family also filed a federal lawsuit against the former officer and the city of Fort Worth.

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