Botham Jean's family, lawyers demand Officer Amber Guyger's firing

DALLAS - Lawyers and family members of Botham Jean, the man who was shot and killed by a Dallas police officer, are demanding that she be fired.

More court documents were also released as public record on Friday in the shooting investigation.

The new information from the search warrants reveals investigators are setting a timeline of who was coming and going from South Side Flats on the night of the shooting. Investigators removed the door lock from Officer Amber Guyger's apartment and downloaded the electronic code information. They did the same for Botham's apartment door lock exactly one floor above. In addition, they downloaded surveillance video from the apartment management office and gained access to building entry logs.

The new documents just made public on Friday give a glimpse into the investigation, but do not say whether a search warrant was served on Guyger's apartment or personal vehicle. It comes the same day as Botham’s family and attorneys call for an internal investigation into DPD and the immediate termination of Guyger.

“We are calling, we are demanding that Officer Amber Guyger be fired and terminated immediately. She should not still be on the payroll for the city of Dallas,” said Lee Merritt, an attorney for the Jean family.

Guyger is charged with manslaughter for the death of 26-year-old Botham Jean. Dallas police said she had just gotten off her shift last Thursday night when she mistook Jean’s apartment for her own at the South Side Flats near Downtown Dallas.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Guyger said she was able to get into the wrong apartment with her key since it was left slightly open. She walked in, saw a shadow and fired her weapon.

“Understand where the charge is manslaughter where it currently stands or whether it eventually goes to where it ought to be which is murder, regardless this is a woman who in under four years on the force has been involved in two suspicious shootings. One was certainly criminal,” Merritt said. “There’s no place for her. The city of Dallas needs to send out a message that there’s no place for a woman like that on the police force.”

Botham’s family and their attorneys have serious concerns about the Dallas Police Department and Texas Rangers’ investigation. They claim Guyger has given a false account of what happened and said there are witnesses with critical information who have yet to be interviewed.

“I’m calling on Amber Guyger to come forward with the truth,” Merritt said.

The attorneys also criticized the department for leaking documents to the media to make Botham seem like a criminal. Merritt said there was a search warrant issued the night he died. It was specifically designed to allow police to go into his apartment and look for evidence of drug paraphernalia.

“On the night that he was killed, the Dallas Police Department investigators were interested specifically in finding information that could help assassinate his character,” Merritt said. “He lived 26 years on this Earth without ever being accused of a crime. And it took him being murdered by a Dallas police officer in order for him to become a criminal.”

“No. 1: Botham Jean did not kill anyone. No. 2: Police Officer Amber Guyger killed Botham Jean. She committed the crime. And No. 3: the issue is why Botham Jean being investigated as if he is the criminal,” added Attorney Ben Crump.

Botham’s mother, Allison Jean, said learning about the search warrant was worse than the call she got on the morning after her son’s death.

“To have my son smeared in such a way, I think shows that there are persons who are really nasty, who are really dirty and are going to cover up for the devil Amber Guyger,” Allison said.

Botham’s mother wants to see the toxicology reports on the officer released. She also wants to know if Guyger’s apartment and personal vehicle were ever searched. That's unclear. There are multiple other warrants that were issued, but they have not been made public.

“I don’t know my son to be involved in such,” Allison said. “And I want to find out if whether the toxicology reports on Amber has been released because she was the murderer.”

Botham’s family has been calling for a fair hearing for her son and peaceful protests.

“But if information like that will come out to tarnish my son’s reputation in his death, I will not sit back and see that justice does not prevail,” Allison said. “It is time that we recognize that lives matter. My son’s life matters.”

The attorneys said the Jean family has only asked for equal justice and fairness. They strongly believe Officer Guyger is getting preferential treatment and said they have lost confidence in the Dallas Police Department and the Texas Rangers. They are hoping the Dallas County District Attorney's Office will do the right thing.

FOX 4 reached out to Dallas PD and some city officials to ask whether Guyger's paid administrative leave status would change. No one has responded.

News