By Phenix S Halley
The Root
When ex-cop Amber Guyger was sentenced to prison for the 2018 killing of Botham Jean, his sister, Allisa Charles-Findley, said 10 years was “a light sentence for murder.” Now, only halfway into the sentence, her brother’s killer is up for parole following years of unsuccessful attempts by Guyger to gain back her freedom.
Jean’s family wants his killer to serve out her full sentence, so they are calling for the parole board to reject Guyger’s early release. “We have to deal with that sentence for the rest of our lives, Charles-Findley told ABC News. The date of Guyger’s parole eligibility also marks the day her victim would’ve turned 33 years old.
“So for the person responsible for taking Botham away from us just unjustly and senselessly, the logical thing to do is to have her serve her full sentence,” Charles-Findley continued. But her tone differs from that of his brother, Brandt Jean, who, along with their mother, forgave Guyger after she was sentenced in 2019.
“Brandt’s forgiveness of Amber Guyger does not mean that she does not get to be punished for her crime,” Charles-Findley said. “Forgiveness doesn’t supersede punishment, so whether he forgave her or not, that has no bearing on her serving her full sentence for committing that crime.”
The now 36-year-old convicted killer was Jean’s downstairs neighbor. On the night of Sept. 6, 2018, Guyger claimed she entered Jean’s Dallas apartment — mistaking it as her own — and thought he was an intruder. She then fatally shot the 26-year-old accountant while he was sitting on his couch, eating his ice-cream and watching football on his TV.
Jean’s murder sparked outrage and protests in Dallas and across the country. The street where Jean once lived has been renamed “Botham Jean Boulevard” in his honor, according to NBC 5 News.
In court, Guyger claimed self-defense, but the jury didn’t buy it and unanimously found her guilty. The ex-cop filed an appeal back in 2020, but the court decided Guyger’s story simply didn’t add up. Now, she’s back with another attempt at early release.
