Former Dallas officer Amber Guyger granted parole in Botham Jean murder case

Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger was granted parole Thursday after serving about seven years of a 10-year sentence for murdering her neighbor, Botham Jean, the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles said.

Guyger, 38, fatally shot Jean, a 26-year-old Black man, in his Dallas apartment in 2018. She told authorities that she had mistakenly entered his home believing it was her own and thought Jean was an intruder. Jean was unarmed and eating ice cream in his living room when he was shot, according to authorities.

A jury convicted Guyger of murder in 2019. Prosecutors had asked jurors to impose a sentence of at least 28 years, but she received 10 years. Guyger first became eligible for parole in September 2024, but the board denied her initial request the following month and scheduled another review for around October 2026.

The parole board said it approved her release because she had no documented pattern of violent arrests, maintained satisfactory conduct in prison and completed programs intended to improve her prospects for stable employment.

Lee Merritt, an attorney for Jean’s family, said the family was disappointed. “A 10-year sentence was already a fraction of what was lost,” he said in a statement to NBC News Dallas-Fort Worth. “Releasing Ms. Guyger after seven years makes that loss feel even smaller in the eyes of the system.”

Jean’s family requested privacy and thanked those who have continued to honor his memory.