A jury has been seated in the trial of Aaron Dean, the ex-Fort Worth police officer charged with the murder of Atatiana Jefferson.
The jury of 12 people plus two alternates will include eight men and six women. The panel of jurors was finalized around 9:30 a.m. Friday following three full days of jury selection before Judge George Gallagher.
Dean will face trial for murder on Monday more than three years after shooting and killing Atatiana Jefferson through a window of her mother’s Fort Worth home. Dean was one of the officers who responded to the home in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, 2019 after Jefferson’s neighbor called the non-emergency line over an open door at the home.
On the night of the shooting, Jefferson was playing video games with her 8-year-old nephew, Zion Carr, who was the only witness inside the house.
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According to the account Zion gave to a civilian forensic interviewer, Jefferson told Zion “that she heard noises coming from outside and she took her handgun from her purse.”
An affidavit for Dean’s arrest states, “Zion said, ‘Jefferson raised her handgun, pointed it toward the window, then Jefferson was shot and fell to the ground.’”
The original jury pool was about 200 people. Throughout the jury selection, several topics were discussed including the potential jurors’ feelings toward law enforcement and social justice movements.
None of the jurors are Black. The majority appear to be white, while a few are people of color. A source familiar with the jury selection process said one of the potential jurors, a Black woman, who was asked to come back Friday was excused due to a family health issue.
Judge George Gallagher gave both sides the opportunity to challenge of the jury members that were picked. Neither side had any objections.
"My heart is troubled, disturbed in the sense that not one African American is sitting on this jury," Pastor Kenneth Jones, Jr. said Friday.
Jones is the senior pastor at Como First Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth. He is part of the Circle of Clergy, which includes several other pastors. The group plans to hold an interfaith prayer vigil at Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Worth next Tuesday, Dec. 6 from noon to 1 p.m.
"We’ve had some outbreaks here after the George Floyd situation, Jacqueline Craig. There will be protests. That’s going to happen, and we have that right to do," Jones said. "I’m just hoping everything will remain decent and in order, but I can’t promise it."
The trial is scheduled to start on Monday morning, though Gallagher said it will be a half day due to the funeral of Jim Lane. Lane, who was the lead attorney for Dean, died Sunday.
