Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted in the shooting death of 26-year-old Botham Jean, will be released from prison on Friday, Oct. 16, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). Guyger was granted early parole, nearly 3 years before her sentence was set to end, according to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. In October 2019, Guyger was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the Sept. 2018 murder. Attempts to appeal and overturn her conviction were denied, and her first shot at parole, in 2024, was also rejected. Last week, the board of pardons and paroles granted her early release and provided the following reasons for their decision: The record does not include a documented pattern of violent or assaultive arrests/convictions The record indicates that the offender has maintained a satisfactory institutional adjustment The record indicates participation in and completion of programs and activities in the individual treatment plan that should enhance chances to obtain and maintain full-time stable employment Guyger testified in 2019 that on Sept. 6, 2018, she had just gotten off work and was still in her Dallas police uniform when she headed home to her apartment in the South Side Flats, an apartment building located two blocks from Dallas police headquarters on the street now named after Jean. As Guyger opened the door to what she said she thought was her apartment, she said she saw a man inside and shot him. Guyger lived one floor below Jean and, at her trial, testified she mistook his apartment for hers and fired in self-defense. In 2024, when Guyger was first eligible for parole, Jean’s family, the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office, and more than 6,300 people signed an online petition protesting her release from the TDCJ’s Gatesville prison. Shortly after her first shot at parole was denied, a civil trial jury of six men and six women found her liable for Jean’s death and ordered her to pay $98.6M in damages to his family, who sought compensatory and punitive damages. Jean’s family attorneys asked jurors to find the former officer liable for using excessive force, and agree that she was acting under state law as a police officer. In a rare move, Guyger chose not to appear in person or have legal representation during the three-day civil trial. Her criminal defense attorney, Toby Shook, told NBC 5 that she did not have the money to hire counsel for the civil trial. The city of Dallas had been named in the initial lawsuit but was later removed. Botham Jean Boulevard, which runs along the Dallas Police Department’s headquarters, was renamed from Lamar Street and dedicated to Jean, who was an accountant. The Dallas Police Department released the following statement after Guyger’s parole announcement: “The Dallas Police Department understands this decision may bring renewed attention and emotion surrounding the tragic death of Botham Jean. Our thoughts remain with the Jean family and all those impacted by his loss. Parole decisions are made by the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles and are outside the authority of the Dallas Police Department, and we had no role in this decision.” A civil rights attorney for Jean’s family, Lee Merritt, posted the following statement, which reads: “We are deeply disappointed by the decision to grant parole to Amber Guyger, the former Dallas police officer convicted of murdering Botham Jean. Botham Jean was in his own home, eating ice cream, when his life was taken. He did nothing wrong. He was a son, a brother, a friend, and a man of faith who served his church and his community. He should still be here. Botham’s family and the community strongly opposed this parole. They stood up again and again to ask that the full sentence be served. A 10-year sentence was already a fraction of what was lost. Releasing Ms. Guyger after seven years makes that loss feel even smaller in the eyes of the system. It is not. The family still lives with this loss every day. Botham does not get to come home. His family does not get the years they should have had with him. No parole decision can return what was taken from them. Justice cannot be selective. When a life is taken without cause, accountability has to mean something, for everyone. Today’s decision tells grieving families that it can be cut short. We stand with the Jean family. We will keep saying Botham’s name, and we will keep working for a justice system that values every life it is asked to protect.” ...read more read less