A former North Texas cop could spend the rest of her life in prison for shooting her upstairs neighbor to death inside his apartment. A Dallas County jury found Amber Guyger guilty of murder late this morning. Guyger was off duty, but in uniform when she barged into Botham Jean's apartment last fall. Her attorneys unsuccessfully argued Guyger believed she was in her own apartment and thought Jean was an intruder. Guyger was originally arrested for manslaughter by Texas Rangers, but a grand jury indicted her of murder weeks later. She was fired from the Dallas Police Department the same day of her indictment. Prosecutors argued Guyger did not follow her training and decided to go in shooting instead of calling for backup. The punishment phase starts later today.
One of the attorneys for the family of the victim not surprised in a conviction. Lee Merritt told reporters today the case against Amber Guyger was too strong to not find her guilty of murder. Dallas County prosecutors argued Guyger did not follow her training and went into the apartment looking to shoot. Merritt, however, says he believes police need to change their training methods. Merritt told reporters police officers are too trigger happy in their interactions with civilians and people of color. Merritt did not say how many years they believe Guyger should end up behind bars and left it up to the jury. She could get the rest of her life in prison.