Dean, 38, was responding to a call when he fatally shot the 28-year-old at her mother’s house on Oct. 12, 2019.

By Maggie Prosser and Krista M. Torralva

FORT WORTH — Officer Carol Darch of the Fort Worth Police Department remembers Atatiana Jefferson.

Darch looked over fellow officer Aaron Dean’s shoulder after he fired a bullet into a window from the backyard of a Fort Worth home. Darch testified Tuesday in  Dean’s murder trial that Jefferson’s eyes were “as big as saucers” before the 28-year-old dropped to the floor.

On the second day of testimony, prosecutors took the Tarrant County jury through the moments leading up to the shooting. Jurors will decide whether Dean, 38, was justified in shooting Jefferson, who grabbed a gun after hearing a noise outside her mother’s house. Prosecutors claimed that the officers did not identify themselves as police officers before Dean fired them.

According to Darch’s testimony and body-camera footage, Dean did not say “gun” before shooting or tell Darch he saw a gun as they rushed inside the house. Prosecutors claim Dean did not see Jefferson’s gun before shooting, while defense attorneys claim he saw a green laser sight pointed at him through the window.

James Smith, who lived across the street from the East Allen Avenue house, reported the front and side doors were open and the lights were turned on before 2:30 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2019. Smith expressed concern because the family did not use the ajar front door. He walked over to the house, saw no one inside, and then called police, he said.

“I wasn’t sure what was going on,” Smith admitted, “but it didn’t seem to be an emergency.”

A call taker coded Smith’s call as a “open structure” — a priority-two call that requires officers to treat it like a “silent alarm,” according to testimony.

Darch testified that when Dean and Darch arrived at Jefferson’s family home, they noticed cabinets open and assumed the house had been burglarized. She told jurors they didn’t announce their presence because there was still a burglar in the house, but she also said the two didn’t talk much and she followed Dean’s lead.

Darch testified that she didn’t see any damage to the open doors of the house that would indicate forced entry. According to his testimony on Monday, Jefferson’s nephew, Zion Carr, had burned hamburger patties earlier that evening and wanted to air out the house.

Darch admitted they didn’t follow protocol. Officers are required by department policy to secure the building’s entrances and exits before inspecting the rest of it. Darch and Dean also failed to contact the homeowner, which is required when there are no obvious signs of damage or forced entry.

Dean, who had been writing on a notepad all day, frowned when a Tarrant County prosecutor pressed Darch on their failures.

“This defendant was a part of and caused violations of multiple general orders,” prosecutor Ashlea Deener said while questioning Darch.

Smith waited on a nearby stoop after Dean shot Jefferson the night before. He testified that he saw two silhouettes approaching the house but did not recognise them as police officers. As the two walked towards the backyard, he claimed he didn’t see any badges.

Dean’s body camera footage from that night shows him shining a light near cars parked outside the house before moving on to a fence. He then opens the fence and directs his attention to the backyard. He walks up to a window, yells, “Put your hands up, show me your hands,” and fires in seconds.

Cries, screams, and moans can be heard coming from within the house. During the body-camera footage, Jefferson’s siblings held hands in the Tarrant County courtroom. Ashley Carr covered her mouth with a tissue.

The body camera footage did not appear to elicit any reactions from the jurors. Several people took copious notes during the testimony. Although there are some people of color among the 12 jurors and two alternates, none are Black. Dean is white, whereas Jefferson is black.

Darch saw 8-year-old Zion, who was up late playing video games, as the officers ran inside. Darch stated that she wrapped him in a blanket and carried him outside. As other officers arrived, Dean swept his flashlight around the room, picked up Jefferson’s gun, and wrapped a blanket around her gaping wound.

“When I heard the baby, that was my sole focus,” Darch testified. The body camera footage showed Zion turning away from Jefferson, who was lying on the floor beneath the window.

Darch’s eyes welled up with tears as she testified, and her face flushed.

Zion told a child forensic interviewer that his aunt heard a noise in the backyard hours after the shooting. Jefferson said in a small room, just feet away from the interviewer, that he took the gun from her purse and pointed it at the window. Throughout the video, he wipes his face with tissues.

In the interview, which was taped around 4:45 a.m. the morning of the shooting, Zion stated that he didn’t hear anything in the backyard but saw a “gun out the window, and I thought I saw a badge,” as well as a flashlight. Someone yelled, “Put your hands up!” he said.

Amber Carr, Zion’s mother, dabbed her face with a tissue in court Tuesday as Zion, now 11, was heard telling the interviewer he was worried about where he’d live after the shooting. Zion shared a residence with Jefferson and his grandmother, Yolanda Carr, who was hospitalised at the time of the shooting. Yolanda Carr died three months after Jefferson was assassinated. Amber Carr was also sickly at the time.

Zion testified on Monday that Jefferson held the gun at her hip and did not raise it. He also stated that he saw nothing outside. After jurors were dismissed on Monday, defence lawyers told the judge that they believed Zion was coached to testify differently than he did immediately after Dean shot Jefferson.

Dean’s attorneys described the shooting as a “tragic accident” in which he “acted appropriately” after detecting a threat. They contended that the officers’ assumption that the house had been burglarized was reasonable.

“No one wants to be in a shooting,” Darch explained. She was not wearing a body camera on the day of the shoot. Darch stated that following the murder, she suffered two strokes that hampered her memory and briefly left Fort Worth police.

Darch stated that police officers are “trained to stop the threat” through a variety of use-of-force techniques ranging from physicality to less-lethal weapons such as Tasers and pepper spray, to lethal force.

“Deadly force is always met with deadly force,” she told the defense during questioning.

Darch stated that the southeast Fort Worth neighbourhood was a hotspot for property and drug-related crimes. Smith, who has lived on East Allen Avenue for decades, told jurors during cross-examination that his street is relatively safe. Dean’s attorneys claim Smith previously told the media that he wouldn’t approach the house because he didn’t have a weapon.

Dean’s attorneys asked the judge last week to order Smith to stop holding a large “We want justice!” sign outside the courthouse, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Smith testified that he thinks about the shooting every day and feels some responsibility for Jefferson’s death.

Her death was “devastating,” Smith said.

Dean was arrested two days after the shooting on a murder charge. Dean resigned before the interim Fort Worth police chief, Ed Kraus, could fire him, according to Kraus. Jefferson was within her rights to defend herself, according to former Mayor Betsy Price and Kraus.

If Dean is convicted of murder, he could face life in prison. According to the district attorney’s office, no Tarrant County officer had ever faced a murder charge prior to his arrest.

A gag order prevents Dean, his defense attorneys, Jefferson’s family, and prosecutors from speaking before the trial concludes. Jim Lane, Dean’s lead defense attorney, died on the eve of jury selection.

Wednesday’s testimony is expected to continue. The trial will last for at least a week.