Family of Atatiana Jefferson calls for officer to be charged for fatal shooting
FORT WORTH, Texas - The family of the 28-year-old woman killed over the weekend by a Fort Worth police officer is calling for him to be charged. The officer involved, Aaron Dean, resigned from the police department on Monday.
“This man murdered someone. He should be arrested,” her brother, Adarius Carr, said.
Her brother, who serves in the U.S. Navy, rushed home.
“I’ve been trained and taught there are preplanned responses to everything you do. Everything you’re trained about, there’s a way to do things. When you don’t do it the way you’re trained or you’ve been taught, you have to answer to that. You have been trained. You know better. So you have to answer for that.”
Atatiana Jefferson had dreams of pursuing a career in medicine. She was dedicated to service and had a kind heart. Her family says it was all snatched away.
“Our family would like you to know more about this beautiful soul, Atatiana Jefferson. She was a smart, ambitious, kind person with a nurturing spirit,” her sister, Ashley Carr, said.
Her family called her Tay. She was a Xavier University graduate with a degree in biology, and had recently moved into the Allen Avenue home to help with her mother, whose health is in decline. She was also helping with her nephew because of her sister’s recent surgery.
Friday night, just before she was shot and killed, Jefferson was playing video games with one of her nephews, 8-year old Zion, who is said to be doing incredibly well.
“The relationship she has with my sons is indescribable. Sometimes, people think they are her kids and not mine. She helped Zion every day to get ready for school because my mother wasn’t capable of doing it,” Jefferson’s sister, Amber Carr, said. “He’s my motivation and he’s my biggest encouragement. In the middle of the night when I’m crying, he wakes up and tells me to breathe in my nose and out my mouth. He holds me, he hugs me, and these are the things I should be doing for him.”
MORE: Fort Worth officer fatally shot woman inside her home while she was watching 8-year-old nephew
The family and their attorney, Lee Merritt, believe the now former officer Aaron Dean must be held accountable.
“Why this man is not in handcuffs right now is a source of continued agitation for this family and for this community,” Merritt said.
A neighbor called a non-emergency line at 2:30 a.m. Saturday after seeing the door open at the home of Atatiana Jefferson.
The family is calling for an outside agency to investigate Jefferson’s shooting death.