My name is Allisa Charles-Findley, and I am the sister of Botham Shem Jean. Botham was a 26-year-old Saint Lucian, who graduated from Harding University and became a Risk Assurance Associate with PwC. From a very young age, Botham was a faithful member of the Church of Christ and devoted his life to helping people who were less fortunate than him. Botham was the middle son to Allison and Bertrum Jean, he was my baby brother and the older brother to Brandt Jean. Botham was the light of my family’s life. He was kind, generous, and loved to be with his family and friends. Amber Guyger’s willful and horrific display of excessive force took his light from us and this world.

On September 6, 2018, Botham was sitting on his sofa, eating ice cream, and watching television, when Amber Guyger, a white officer with the Dallas Police Department entered his apartment and shot him to death. Guyger was returning home, still in uniform from a 13-1⁄2-hour shift, when she parked on the wrong floor of her apartment building. She entered Botham’s apartment, on a different floor then hers, and immediately assessed Botham, wholly unarmed in his own home, as a “threat”. She fired her gun, striking him repeatedly. She then called 9-1-1 and can be heard pleading with Botham to hold on, as she cried about losing her job.

Guyger was not taken into custody or required to immediately give a statement by police. There was a 72-hour lapse between Botham’s death and Guyger’s interview and arrest by the Texas Rangers on a charge of manslaughter. The Texas Rangers had taken over the investigation from the Dallas Police, which continued to employ Guyger for two weeks following her arrest. Within an hour of her arrest, Officer Guyger was released on bond. Days later, a grand jury indicted her for murder, the charge on which she ultimately was convicted and sentenced to only 10 years imprisonment.

Evidence of the Dallas Police Department’s culture of misconduct was presented at Guyger’s murder trial showing systemic problems within the department. Testimony revealed that Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, shielded Guyger from arrest by instructing her to not say anything while the camera was recording, and telling officers to turn off mounted vehicle dash cameras so they could speak privately after she had killed Botham. Coordination between Guyger and the police became more evident after officers began leaking favorable information about Guyger to the public. Evidence at trial further showed that Guyger participated in racist text messages with several officers in the police department prior to the shooting. Her partner, Martin Rivera, deleted messages exchanged with Guyger the night she killed Botham.

Dallas has a deep history and pattern of police officers shooting unarmed people of color, but a shallow history of these shootings resulting in criminal convictions. Although Texas police shot and killed 117 people last year alone, Guyger’s conviction was only the third time in the last two years that a Dallas County jury found a police officer guilty of murder. Dallas police have actively engaged in racially based public commentary. In January of this year alone, at least 13 officers were disciplined for offensive comments they made on social media. Some of the remarks made light of police brutality or involved racial stereotypes.

On behalf of Botham’s family, please join in demanding that the Department of Justice bring charges against Amber Guyger and to investigate the Dallas Police Department. Botham was struck down in his prime, his bright future forever taken from him and his family because a police officer had been trained and believed that she could exert her police power and take a life without consequence. This type of training sets the attitude of the entire Dallas Police Department and we are demanding an investigation to end that type of training to save another life and bring Justice to Botham Jean.

Sincerely,

Allisa Charles-Findley

On Behalf of the Family of Botham Jean