With a few clouds providing relief from the sun, people gathered on the corner of Allen and Evans avenues in Fort Worth to paint a mural in memory of Atatiana Jefferson.
"It's tough when you paint somebody that passed away, or anybody that's been killed, a murder," artist Julian Johnson said. "You feel that emotion as you paint."
Johnson, along with volunteers, painted Jefferson's face on the side of an old brick building, positioned to look at anyone who passes.
"I want to make sure that when they look at her they're not looking at a mural," Johnson said. "They see her."
The 28-year old pre-med graduate student was shot and killed inside her home last October by Fort Worth Police officer Aaron Dean, who was making a welfare check on the home. Dean has since resigned from the department and has been indicted for Jefferson's murder.
"It kind of hurt my feelings that we didn't have one for her," Patrice Jones said. Jones started a GoFundMe page to pay for a mural in Fort Worth in Jefferson's honor. "I wanted to make sure that we made this happen for her, and her family, and for her legacy."
"We've seen one in Denver, Colorado. We've seen one in Dallas, but nothing here," Johnson said. "So why not here?"
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The mural is near the home where Jefferson was killed.
"Right around the corner. That's the crazy part," Johnson said. "So this is going to be a constant reminder for everybody to see. That way they don't forget her name. They don't forget her face... until it stops, we got to keep remembering their names."
