Ex-Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison Wednesday and threw her arms around the victim's brother after he said his family forgave her for shooting to death Botham Jean in his own apartment.
Guyger, 31, had faced between five and 99 years, or life in prison. After sentencing was announced, Brandt Jean, the dead man's teenage brother, spoke directly to Guyger.
"If you truly are sorry, I know I can speak for myself, I forgive you," he said. His brother would have wanted the same, he said. "I love you as a person, and I don't wish anything bad on you."
The brother asked the court's permission to hug Guyger. After receiving it, he walked toward and she fell into his arms. Both were sobbing.
Earlier, after the jury delivered her guilty verdict on Tuesday, video shows a distracted-looking Guyger.
The footage shows a court officer removing Guyger’s handcuffs. It was the same officer who offered her comfort by stroking her hair after the verdict came down.
In the video, Guyger is given instructions on what to do next, then she is walked out of frame and finger-printed. She is brought back to sign paperwork before she was taken to jail for the night.
Guyger was returned to court Wednesday for her sentencing hearing. The victim's father testified his son was a devout church goer. morning for another day in the sentencing phase of her trial. Her attorney's asked that her shackles be removed.
“My Sundays have been destroyed," he said. “How could we have lost Botham? Such a sweet boy. He tried his best to live a good, honest life. He loved God. He loved everyone. How could this happen to him?”
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