DALLAS _ The jurors who convicted Amber Guyger of murdering Botham Jean on Wednesday heard tearful testimony from the people who knew Jean best during the sentencing phase of the fired officer's trial.
His father, Bertrum Jean, told the jury how his favorite day of the week has been destroyed since his son's death.
On Sundays, the father, who lives in their native St. Lucia, would wait for his son to get home from his worship service in Dallas so they could talk about what happened in church. Botham, 26, would send his father photos of whatever he was cooking that day.
He still can't watch videos of Botham singing.
"I'm still not ready for it," he said. "It hurts me, that he's not there."
Prosecutor LaQuita Long displayed a photo of Bertrum and Allison Jean at their son's funeral. She asked what was going through his head when it was taken.
"How could that happen to us, our family?" Bertrum Jean said through tears. "How could we have lost Botham _ such a sweet boy? He tried his best to live a good, honest life. He loved God. He loved everyone. How could this happen to him?
"How could it be possible?" he continued, shaking his head and dabbing at his eyes with a white handkerchief. "I'll never see him again."
Guyger was off-duty but still in her Dallas police uniform when she shot Jean. She testified that she mistook Jean's apartment for hers and thought he was a burglar.
The jury delivered its verdict after deliberating for five hours. Her attorneys argued during the trial that jurors should find her not guilty because she made a "mistake of fact" when she thought Jean was a threat. But prosecutors said Guyger made the decision to shoot before she ever pushed the door open.
Jean lived one floor above Guyger at the South Side Flats apartments just blocks from Dallas police headquarters.
Guyger faces between five and 99 years or life in prison. Probation is not an option.
The first witness called by the defense was Guyger's mother, who told the jury how Guyger hasn't been the same since shooting Jean.
Karen Guyger said her daughter has told her repeatedly that she wished it was Jean who had shot her when she entered the unarmed man's home.
"She always would tell me she wishes she could've taken his place. She feels very bad about it," she said through tears, holding a crumpled tissue.
She also told the jury how she called police when Amber Guyger was 6, when the mother realized a man she was dating had sexually molested the girl.
Earlier in the trial, Guyger's defense spoke of how Guyger faced adversity early on in her life and had early interactions with police that made her want to be an officer when she grew up.
Alana Guyger, Amber Guyger's sister, said that since shooting Jean, her sister "doesn't have the same light or energy that she had before."
"She's expressed to me how she feels bad spending time with her family because he can't be with his," Alana Guyger said.
Also taking the stand Wednesday morning was a close friend of Jean's from Harding University in Arkansas.
Alexis Stossel told jurors how she and Jean became fast friends when they met at the Christian school in Arkansas. They started to do everything together and talked or texted every day until he died, she said.
She and Jean had both lived in Dallas for a while, and it was tough for her to decide to move back home to East Texas.
"Deciding to go home meant risking a big Dallas career and risking not seeing my best friend every day," she said.
But Jean encouraged her and reassured her that she was making the right choice. She read text messages Jean had sent her around that time:
"You're absolutely killing it! I just wanted to leave you this message to let you know I fully support your decision to move to Kilgore," one text read. "But this could be the best decision of your life. You'll never know if you never attempt it."
She cried as she recounted how she got a call early the morning of Sept. 7, 2018, when she learned Jean had been killed.
She slumped to the floor and screamed, "Wait, wait, wait, wait!" she said. She called him seven times after that. No answer.
"I have never lost someone this close in my life," she said. "And the feeling is just unexplainable."
After the decision, the jurors got back to work to decide Guyger's punishment. They heard testimony from Jean's mother and sister, and they saw racist texts and offensive social posts from Guyger.
Guyger spent her first night in jail when her bond was revoked after Tuesday's guilty verdict.
She had been free on bail and spent less than an hour behind bars both times she was arrested in the case, first for manslaughter and then for murder.
Her defense team brought Guyger a change of clothes to the courthouse Wednesday morning so she won't have to wear her jail uniform.
