Dallas Cops Say They Have No Idea Why a Witness in Amber Guyger’s Trial Was Gunned Down
Credit to Author: Alex Lubben| Date: Mon, 07 Oct 2019 15:33:05 +0000
Less than two weeks after Joshua Brown testified in the murder trial of a Dallas police officer, he was gunned down, police confirmed on Sunday.
Brown was a key witness in the trial of Amber Guyger, the former Dallas cop who was convicted of murder for walking into Botham Jean’s apartment, thinking it was her own, and shooting him dead.
Guyger, 31, was convicted on murder charges and slapped with a 10-year prison sentence on Oct. 3. Brown, who lived across from Jean, testified in the case, providing key details about events immediately before and after the September 2018 murder.
Brown's shooting death is under investigation. His attorney said he was getting out of his car when he was shot multiple times at close range. He was found lying on the ground in the parking lot near his apartment and was brought to a local hospital, where he died.
READ: Ex-Dallas cop Amber Guyger was sentenced to 10 years for killing unarmed black man
Witnesses who flagged down cops said they’d seen a silver sedan speed away, but there are no detailed descriptions of the suspects. The police department said in its statement that there are no suspects or known motives.
It was Brown’s testimony that undermined a key element of Guyger’s defense — that she shouted commands before firing at Jean. Brown testified that he could hear Jean singing in his apartment and did not hear Guyger shout any commands before he heard gunshots.
“Brown lived in constant fear that he could be the next victim of gun violence, either state sanctioned or otherwise,” Lee Merritt, a lawyer working with Brown’s relatives, wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday.
And Brown’s work as a witness wasn’t done. He was set to testify in a civil case brought by Jean’s family against the city of Dallas in connection with the killing.
“To have a key witness suddenly be killed is suspicious. Was this related to the trial? There is no clear indication,” Merritt told CBS News.
Cover: In this Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2019, photo, victim Botham Jean's neighbor Joshua Brown, left, answers questions from Assistant District Attorney LaQuita Long, right, while pointing to a map of the South Side Flats where he lives, while testifying during the murder trial of former Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger, in Dallas. Authorities say that Brown was killed in a shooting Friday, Oct. 4. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP, Pool)
This article originally appeared on VICE US.