Amber Guyger: Police officer found guilty of murdering unarmed black neighbour after entering his apartment

'I never wanted to take an innocent person’s life,' former officer says during emotional testimony

(AP)

A jury has found a former police officer guilty of murder for the death of Botham Jean, who was shot and killed inside of his apartment in September 2018.

Amber Guyger, a former Dallas officer, had argued in her murder trial that she mistook Mr Jean's residence for her own apartment when she walked inside after a 13-hour shift at the police department.

She said she believed she was confronting an intruder when she ordered Mr Jean to show her his hands, before ultimately shooting him with the intention to kill, as she was trained to do in the police force. She was fired weeks after the killing.

The jury, which reportedly deliberated for less than two days before making its decision, was allowed to review the "Castle Doctrine," a law that allows defendants to protect themselves in their own homes through the use of deadly force when necessary.

Ms Guyger was seen sobbing during her testimony, the first time she spoke about the shooting since Mr Jean’s death garnered national media attention and outcry. Mr Jean's death prompted mass protests nationwide, as activists demanded justice for the killing of an unarmed black man in his own home.

At one point she said behind tears: “I hate that I have to live with this every single day of my life and I ask God for forgiveness, and I hate myself every single day.”

“I never wanted to take an innocent person’s life,” she said. “And I’m so sorry. This is not about hate. It’s about being scared that night.”

Mr Jean grew up in the Caribbean island nation of St Lucia before coming to the US for college. His shooting drew widespread attention because of the strange circumstances and because it was one in a string of shootings of unarmed black men by white police officers.

Ms Guyger testified that upon returning home in-uniform after a long shift that night, she put her key into what she thought was her door lock and the door opened because it hadn’t been fully closed. Fearing it was a break-in, she drew her service weapon and stepped inside to find a silhouetted figure standing in the dark.

“Let me see your hands! Let me see your hands,” she said she told the man. But Ms Guyger said she couldn’t see his hands and he began coming toward her at a “fast-paced” walk. She said he yelled, “Hey! Hey! Hey!” right before she opened fire.

“I was scared he was going to kill me,” she said under questioning by her lawyers, who called her as their first witness on the trial’s fifth day.

Lead prosecutor Jason Hermus suggested that Ms Guyger was less than grief-stricken in the aftermath of the shooting, saying that two days after she shot Mr Jean, Ms Guyger asked her police partner, with whom she was romantically involved, if he wanted to go for drinks.

Mr Hermus also asked Ms Guyger why she didn’t radio in for help when she thought there was a break-in at what she thought was her home.

She replied that going through the doorway with her gun drawn, “was the only option that went through my head.”

Additional reporting by Associated Press