‘Agonizing:’ Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger is now eligible for parole in the murder of Botham Jean

On New Year’s Day, Allisa Charles-Findley thought to herself: this is the year.

This is the year her brother’s murderer walked free.

After serving half of her 10-year sentence for murder, Amber Guyger will be eligible for parole on Sunday. Guyger, a former Dallas police officer, fatally shot Botham Jean in his Cedars apartment in 2018.

Guyger’s case is up for review by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. It’s unclear when the board will do it pass on his decision.

If granted parole, Guyger would be released from a Gatesville prison as early as Sept. 29, according to a board ombudsman.

This date is another cruel twist for Charles-Findley. Jean’s birthday is September 29th. He would have been 33 years old.

“I pray that she is not granted her parole because I feel like it would be like losing Botham all over again and losing Botham was the worst day of my life and still is,” said Charles- Findley.

“If she were granted parole it would be very traumatic for me and my family.”

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office has written a letter to the parole board protesting Guyger’s parole, according to spokeswoman Claire Crouch. Crouch declined further comment.

Guyger’s appeal attorney did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

Guyger and Darrell L. Cain, who killed 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez in 1973, are the only Dallas officers convicted of murder. To force a confession in a theft case, Cain played Russian roulette with the child and killed him in the back seat of a patrol car. Cain was sentenced to five years in prison but only served 2.5 years.

A former Wichita Falls officer, Teddie Whitefield, was convicted of three counts of manslaughter and served a quarter of his eight-year sentence.

If Guyger were granted parole, it would buck recent statistical trends: Less than 35% of the nearly 64,800 cases reviewed by the board last year were approved for parole, according to a 2023 report.

A Change.org petition calling on the parole board to deny Guyger’s application has garnered nearly 80 signatures as of Friday afternoon. The petition advocates for Guyger to serve her entire sentence.

“This sentence should serve as a measure of justice for Botham Jean and his family and as a statement that such actions will not be tolerated,” the petition reads. “Granting parole at this time would undermine the seriousness of the crime and the justice sought through the judicial process.

“We believe Amber Guyger should serve her full sentence to reflect the seriousness of her actions and protect the integrity of our justice system.”

Guyger mistook Jean’s apartment for her own on the night of September 6, 2018. Guyger lived on the third floor of the South Side Flats building; Jean lived on the fourth. A few weeks after the murder, she was fired from the Dallas Police Department and initially sent to prison for involuntary manslaughter. A grand jury later indicted her on murder charges.

Jean was from St. Lucia and dreamed of returning and running for prime minister. He was a believer and had a keen interest in social justice. His killing sparked protests and outrage and was another example of a white officer killing an unarmed black man.

At her trial in 2019, Guyger testified that she believed Jean was a burglar and fired her service weapon twice. Guyger was off duty but still wearing her police uniform. In later appeals, Guyger argued that her mistaken belief that she was in her apartment negated her guilt in the murder and that she had the right to use deadly force in self-defense.

Whether Guyger pulled the trigger was undisputed at her trial; Rather, the jury was tasked with deciding whether the murder was a crime. Defense attorneys claimed Guyger had a “firm and reasonable belief” that she was in her own apartment and that her life was in danger.

Prosecutors asked the jury to sentence Guyger to at least 28 years in prison, a reminder that Jean would have celebrated his 28th birthday around the time of the trial. She faced between five and 99 years or life in prison.

District Attorney John Creuzot noted at the time that he expected the jury to impose a longer sentence.

“Guyger deserved to serve her entire sentence – a short sentence – in prison,” Charles-Findley said. “She was sentenced to ten years in prison, which to me is a very lenient sentence for murder.

“That’s why it’s decent to serve every day.”

During dramatic victim impact statements, Jean’s younger brother, Brandt Jean, stunned the courtroom by offering Guyger his forgiveness and then hugging the ex-cop.

Allison Jean, Botham Jean’s mother, said her family has tried to lean on each other in the six years since the murder but still struggles with anxiety and depression. She didn’t want to think about Guyger’s probation, but she knew she had to deal with it and thought to herself, “Time is almost up.”

She also believes Guyger should serve her entire sentence. She feels no remorse from the former official. Charles-Findley doesn’t believe her family will get the full story about what happened when Guyger entered Jean’s apartment. Guyger was too rehearsed during the trial, she said.

“She filed four appeals, which really showed that she took no responsibility for what she did,” Allison Jean said. Texas’ highest criminal court upheld her conviction and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case in 2022.

“And that doesn’t soften my own feelings.”

Charles-Findley is trying to prepare for what could happen, but said Sunday will feel “excruciating.”

“In the end, there is no prize,” Charles-Findley said. “Botham is still not here. So even [if] Amber Guyger’s parole is denied – and I’m still praying for it – there will never be a good feeling about it.”