Former Dallas Officer Who Shot Black Man in Apartment That She Mistook for Hers Gets Parole

October 2, 2026

Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger has been granted parole after serving seven years of a ten-year murder sentence for fatally shooting Botham Jean, a 26-year-old Black accountant, in his own apartment in 2018. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles approved her second parole request despite strong opposition from Jean's family, after denying her first attempt in 2024. Guyger claimed she mistakenly entered Jean's fourth-floor apartment thinking it was her own unit below and believed he was an intruder when she shot him while he ate ice cream.

Who is affected

Botham Jean's family
Amber Guyger (the former police officer granted parole)
The Jean family's civil rights attorney Lee Merritt
The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole
The Dallas Police Department

What action is being taken

The Texas Board of Pardons and Parole is reviewing information in Guyger's case
The state prison system is determining when Guyger will be released
Guyger is being granted parole and released from prison

Why it matters

This case represents another instance in a pattern of white police officers shooting Black individuals, drawing widespread public attention due to the unusual circumstances of an officer entering the wrong apartment and killing an innocent person in their own home. The parole decision is significant because it means Guyger will serve only seven years of a ten-year sentence for murder, which Jean's family views as inadequate justice given that the original sentence was already considerably less than the life sentence she could have received or the 28 years prosecutors requested.

What's next

No explicit next steps stated in the article

Read full article from source: The San Diego Voice & Viewpoint