DALLAS _ Botham Jean's family said they're relieved that the Dallas police officer who killed Jean will face charges _ but they still have unanswered questions.
Dallas County District Attorney Faith Johnson said Monday that the case involving Officer Amber Guyger, 30, is now in the DA's hands and that it will be up to the grand jury to decide if it's a manslaughter or murder case. The timeline on a grand jury hearing isn't known yet.
"Trust me, we will present to the grand jury everything that we can possibly present to them," Johnson said at a news conference. She declined to release any evidence or facts about what happened, saying she will not compromise the investigation.
Johnson said her office had a "spirited debate" with the Texas Rangers. She would not elaborate on what that conversation entailed.
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey released a statement on the shooting Monday saying he joined the Dallas community in mourning "the senseless and tragic death of Botham "Bo" Jean. As I've said all too recently," Veasey said, "there is a systematic failure in our criminal justice system to prosecute the unjustified shootings of black men and boys in this country. I'm deeply troubled that the Texas Rangers delayed issuing an arrest warrant for the suspect, who is a Dallas police officer, for so long."
Guyger was arrested on a manslaughter charge on Sunday evening. But that could change.
She told Dallas police that when she got off of work on Thursday, she went to the wrong apartment, thinking it was her own, and shot Jean, 26.
The Dallas County medical examiner ruled Jean's death a homicide by a gunshot wound to his chest.
An hour after her arrest, Guyger posted a $300,000 bond and left the Kaufman County Jail.
Attorneys for Jean's family called a news conference later Monday morning regarding the charges.
Prime Minister Allen Chastanet of St. Lucia was with the family and said there was a sadness looming over the sudden loss of life.
The prime minister said he has seen a family in pain because they've lost a son and brother and also because they've been forced to sit and wait for justice. He said he was encouraged by word from the district attorney that the DA's office is still investigating and gathering evidence to present to the grand jury.
Family attorney Lee Merritt said he wasn't satisfied that it took three days to put Guyger in handcuffs. She was able to go home to her bed afterward, he said.
"This city has to share in our cries for justice," Merritt said.
He noted that there would be no body camera footage because Guyger wasn't wearing a body camera the night of the shooting. Dallas police policy is that officers have to remove their body cameras before leaving after a shift, he said.
But he said he doesn't view it as an off-duty shooting because she was still in uniform at the time and used her service weapon.
He said there are questions lingering and that the district attorney hasn't told him or the family anything they didn't already know, such as why Guyger didn't know she was on the wrong floor of the apartment building where she lived or why she didn't notice the red carpet that Jean's mother bought him outside his door _ it wouldn't have been outside hers.
"Why was she so quick to rely on deadly force?" he asked. "What went wrong in her training?"
There's a narrative floating around that when Guyger got to the door late Thursday night, it was closed but unlocked and that when she opened it, the lights were out and there was a silhouette of a man. She thought it was a burglar and shot him, the narrative goes.
Merritt said he had heard that account but that the DA hasn't confirmed to him that that was what happened.
Merritt was joined by co-counsel Benjamin L. Crump, who told the gathering, "We don't want to keep losing children to people meant to protect us."
At a news conference Sunday night, Crump lamented: "Black people have been killed by police in some of the most arbitrary ways in America. Blacks have been killed for 'driving while black' in their automobiles, 'walking while black' in their neighborhoods and now 'living while black' in their own apartment. Each time it is more shocking than before," he said. "This crime was not only a shock for the Jean family, but also one that continues to astonish most sensible Americans."
At the news conference on Monday, Jean's mother, Allison Jean, thanked the community and the world for standing with her family. She said her No. 1 concern now is that she just wants to know what happened.
In the days leading up to Guyger's arrest, rumors swirled around the Internet that Jean and Guyger knew each other and had been dating.
Merritt denied those rumors multiple times. He also called for more transparency in the case to stop rumors like that from forming, and to give the family answers.
