Amber Carr, the sister of Atatiana Jefferson, the Fort Worth woman shot and killed in her home in 2019 by a police officer, has died after a longtime battle with congestive heart failure.
Earlier this month community leaders and the family's attorney, Lee Merritt, shared that Carr, 33, was in failing health and was expected to have only days to live. On Monday, Merritt and Fort Worth City Councilman Chris Nettles, both posted messages online confirming Carr's death.
"Amber Carr passed away peacefully this morning. She was surrounded by family and loved ones. We are asking for your continued prayers and support as her two young sons deal with her transition," Merritt posted.
"We are heartbroken to hear about the passing of Amber Carr, sister to Ashley Carr & Atatiana Carr-Jefferson and mother to Zion & Zayden Carr. Anyone who had the pleasure of meeting Amber knew her smile lit up every room and her love of family transcended time. Our hearts and prayers are with the entire Carr family right now as they cope with another devastating loss. We are grateful for the time we shared with Amber on this earth and are comforted knowing she has reunited with her mother and sister," Nettles posted.
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Carr’s son, Zion, was the only one home when his "Aunt Tay" was shot and killed in the family's home on E. Allen Avenue on Oct. 12, 2019.
Dean, a white police officer, fatally shot the 28-year-old Black woman while investigating an open structure call. Dean entered the backyard and said when he looked through a window he saw a silhouette of a person and the barrel of a gun. Dean fired once, fatally wounding the woman on the other side of the glass.
In a 2019 interview with NBC 5, Amber Carr said her sister Atatiana loved spending time with her nephews and that she was so close to them people would sometimes mistake them for her children.
She told NBC 5 in 2019 that the last time she spoke to her sister was a week before she was killed when she came to visit her in the hospital.
"She came to the hospital in Plano where I was recovering from major heart surgery. She came and brought me food, she brought me a new cellphone," Carr said.
Carr attended part of her sister's murder trial last month before being readmitted to the hospital before Dean was found guilty and sentenced.
Funeral arrangements for Carr have not yet been shared publicly.
Since Jefferson's death, the family has endured one tragedy after another. Atatiana's father, Marquis Jefferson, died two weeks after her funeral and her mother, Yolanda Carr, who also had congestive heart failure, died a few weeks later in January 2020.
Dean was convicted in Jefferson's death on Dec. 15, 2022, when a Tarrant County jury rejected a murder charge in favor of a lesser charge of manslaughter. Five days later the same jury sentenced him to 11 years, 10 months and 12 days in state prison. Earlier this month, Dean's attorneys filed a motion requesting a new trial and for him to be released from state jail on bond.
