Botham Jean Shooting: Family's Attorney Claims Witnesses Contradict Amber Guyger's Account

Cop
Kaufman County, Texas Jail /CBS NEWS

Jean, 26, was in his home when he was shot and killed by Officer Amber Guyger, who said she believed he was an intruder.

Two apparent witnesses have offered details of the night Botham Jean was fatally shot by Dallas cop Amber Guyger that contradict the officer’s account of what happened, according to attorneys for Jean’s family.

Guyger said she believed there was a burglar inside her home when she saw a “large silhouette” in the unlit apartment after arriving home just before 10 p.m. Thursday, according to court documents.

She had said the door was ajar, but opened under the force of her unique door key, which is outfitted with an electronic chip, the documents said. And when she gave the unknown person “verbal commands,” that person ignored them, she said. 

Guyger fired her handgun two times, striking 26-year-old Jean once in the midsection, authorities said.

But Jean was in his own apartment that Guyger, who was one floor above her own home, said she realized she had entered mistakenly after turning on the lights, she said.

Jean was rushed to Baylor Hospital, where he died.

"The No. 1 answer that I want is, ‘What happened?’” Jean’s mother, Allison Jean, said to reporters Monday. “I have asked too many questions, and I've been told that there are no answers yet. I'm looking forward to the powers that be to come up with the answers to make me more satisfied that they are doing what is in the best interest of getting justice for Botham.”

But, according to Jean's family's attorneys, two individuals have apparently provided ear witness accounts of the moments before shots rang out that do not line up with Guyger’s statements to investigators

“There are witnesses who said that before the gunshots, they heard the officer knocking at the door and repeatedly saying, ‘Let me in,’” Dallas civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt, who represents Jean's family, told the Washington Post

Merritt told reporters that the voice the witnesses heard was that of a woman’s they believe to be Guyger. 

The witnesses said they also heard a man’s voice after the gunshots, the family’s attorneys said.

"What we believe to be the last words of Botham Jean which was 'Oh my god, why did you do that?'" Merritt told CBS

InsideEdition.com has reached out to Merritt for comment.

The Texas Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Texas Ranger Division that has taken over the case, referred any questions to the Dallas County District Attorney’s office.

The district attorney’s office, as well as the Dallas Police Association, the city's largest police union, has not responded to InsideEdition.com's request for comment.

Guyger, who has been with the police department for four years, was charged with second-degree manslaughter. She has been released on $300,000 bail and placed on administrative leave.

Jean’s funeral is scheduled for Thursday.

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