The sister of Atatiana Jefferson filed a wrongful death lawsuit following Jefferson’s killing by a Fort Worth police officer in 2019. Jefferson’s sister, Ashley Carr, named the city of Fort Worth, Mayor Betsy Price, former police chief Ed Kraus, and former police officer Aaron Dean in the $10 million lawsuit.
According to a report by CNN, Carr alleges in the suit that the city “failed to properly train, supervise, screen, discipline, transfer, counsel or otherwise properly equip and control officers including those who are known, or who should have been known, to engage in the use of excessive force and/or deadly force.”
Jefferson was playing video games with her nephew in the early hours of October 12, 2019 when Dean and another officer came to her home. A neighbor noticed her door was opened and called the non-emergency police line to conduct a wellness check. Dean and the other officer went around the house in the dark. Atatiana heard a noise and grabbed a gun out of her purse and pointed it at the window. On body camera footage, Dean can be heard yelling “Put your hands up! Show me your hands!” before firing his weapon through the window. Neither officer identified themselves as police.
Following Jefferson’s killing, Dean resigned and was indicted by a grand jury on a murder charge. Dean pleaded not guilty and has been out on bond since October 2019, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported. Jefferson's family filed a lawsuit against Dean last year.
Carr’s lawsuit has been acknowledged by Mayor Price who released a statement that comments would be limited due to the ongoing criminal case. Price’s statement did note that Carr is not executor of Jefferson’s estate, per CNN's report.
“The Probate Court has appointed an Attorney Ad Litem to determine heirs and will appoint an executor, who is the appropriate person to file suit, once all heirs have been determined,” the statement reads in part.
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