Aaron Dean Trial: Defense continues to call witnesses in former police officer’s murder trial

FORT WORTH, Texas – Aaron Dean‘s defense team will call more witnesses to testify on Tuesday in the former Fort Worth police officer’s murder trial.

Dean is facing a capital murder charge for shooting and killing Atatiana Jefferson inside her mother’s home in Oct. 2019.

FOX 4 will have gavel-to-gavel coverage on Fox4News.com and our YouTube page, plus live updates from the courtroom throughout the day.

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Previous Coverage

Dean was the first witness called by the defense team on Monday morning. When asked why he waived his Fifth Amendment rights Dean said, “This jury needs to hear from me, and hear the truth.” 

Dean told the jury he thought the house was burglarized and claims he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. 

Prosecutors worked to break down his version of events. He admitted some of his decisions were “bad police work.” He also admitted he did not announce he saw a gun before he fired and failed to tell his partner he saw a gun when they went into the home.

After Dean testified, the defense called a forensic video analyst, to the stand. He testified that Dean could see more than the body camera showed.

But there was a key moment under cross-examination when the defense witness was asked about how quickly Dean fired at Jefferson after starting to tell her to put her hands up. The expert witness says it was just over half a second.

After the defense presents its case, the prosecution will have a chance to call rebuttal witnesses.

If convicted of murder, Dean faces a possible sentence anywhere from five to 99 years in prison.

Atatiana Jefferson Shooting Timeline

The shooting happened on Oct. 12, 2019.

Atatiana Jefferson was babysitting her 8-year-old nephew at her mother’s house.

A neighbor made a non-emergency call to police because a door was open with lights on.

Officer Dean arrived, walked into the backyard and saw Jefferson in a window with her gun in her hand. Dean yelled, “put your hands up! Let me see your hands!” before immediately firing a single shot, killing Jefferson.

The shooting led to protests against the Fort Worth Police Department.

If you have issues viewing the timeline click here.