DALLAS — A Texas appeals court has upheld the murder conviction of a former Dallas police officer who was sentenced to prison for fatally shooting her neighbor in his home.
A panel of three state judges on Thursday ruled that a Dallas County jury had sufficient evidence to convict Amber Guyger of murder in the 2018 shooting of Botham Jean.
The decision means Guyger will continue to serve her 10-year prison sentence. It largely dashes the 32-year-old’s hopes of having her 2019 conviction overturned.
Under her current sentence, Guyger will become eligible for parole in 2024.
Guyger shot and killed Jean in his own apartment in September 2018 after she mistook his apartment for her own.
Guyger lived in the unit above Jean and, upon returning from work at the police department, mistakenly traveled to the wrong floor. Finding the door to Jean’s apartment open, she thought a robbery was in process at her own apartment. Guyger shot Jean as he sat on his couch.
She was convicted of murder in October 2019.
According to the Associated Press, Guyger’s lawyers argued that her mistake in entering the wrong apartment was reasonable, and therefore, the shooting was reasonable. They hoped to have Guyger’s charge reduced and then have her sentenced reduced based on the new charge.
