Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger this week was convicted of murdering Botham Jean in his home. From the moment I heard about this story several months ago, I knew something was foul. Guyger, a white woman, claimed that she thought she was in her apartment when the murder was committed last year. How in the world can you mistake your apartment for someone else's, especially when the apartments are on two different floors?
There were some reports early on that there may have been some sort of romantic link between Guyger and Jean, but those reports were somehow swept under the rug and never really brought up again. Nevertheless, there are so many questions that still remain unanswered. One big question I have is why was Jean's apartment door unlocked so anyone could just walk in? That seems really odd to me.
Throughout the trial we also learned that there were racially insensitive texts sent from Guyger. We know how damaging social media can be.
The moral of this story is that an unarmed person was killed in the comfort of their own home. With the racial injustices that have plagued our country for decades, and most recently heightened the past several years, with this conviction I have a little more hope in the judicial system. I am relieved that this woman was unanimously found guilty of murder and she will be going to jail.
We have a long way to go in America when it comes to race relations, but this time justice got it right.