A new two-hour episode of “Impact of Murder” will delve into the case of Botham Jean, the 26-year-old Black man who was shot dead by a police officer inside his Texas apartment in 2018. The episode titled “The Ballad of Botham Jean,” will air Thursday from 9-11 p.m. on Investigation Discovery and will take the viewer from the moment Jean was shot in 2018 by white, female, off-duty police officer Amber Guyger to the protests and media frenzy that followed.
Guyger, who has since been convicted of murder, said she thought she had entered her own home when she entered Botham’s apartment and shot him because she thought she was being burglarized. Botham’s murder sparked national outrage and sent home the point that “black people aren’t even safe in their own homes,” one person says in the episode’s preview.
The documentary includes accounts from numerous members of Botham’s family, including his mother, Allison Jean, father Bertrum Jean, and his sister, Allisa Charles-Findley. The family’s lawyer Lee Merritt and prosecutor Jason Hermus are also featured.
“I have to admit, it was tough to relive my son’s horrible murder,” said Allison Jean. “However, this is an important story. I want people to know how good my son was, and how senseless his death was.”
But, one of the most heart wrenching moments comes from Botham’s 18-year-old brother Brandt Jean, who talks about how much anger he dealt with in the aftermath of his brother’s death and what led to the moment where he hugged his brother’s killer in the courtroom as an act of forgiveness.
“I didn’t want to do that impact statement because I felt like if you’ve killed my brother already, there’s nothing I can do that would bring him back,” Brandt said in the documentary.
Guyger was sentenced to ten years in prison in 2019.
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