DALLAS, Texas – The witness in the murder trial of Amber Guyger, the white Dallas police officer who was found guilty of the murder of her black neighbor, St. Lucia native Botham Jean, was killed in a shooting in Dallas.
According to Dallas authorities, Joshua Brown, who lived in the same apartment complex as Amber Guyger and Botham Jean, was shot and killed on Friday, October 4.
Police said in a news release that they responded to the shooting shortly after 10:30 p.m. Friday at an apartment complex that is not the one where Jean was killed. They said several witnesses flagged officers down when they arrived and directed them to an apartment parking lot where the man was lying on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds.
The man was taken to a hospital, where he died.
Witnesses told police they heard several gunshots and saw a silver four-door sedan speeding out of the parking lot, according to the police news release.
During the Guyger trial, 28-year-old Brown testified saying he was in a hallway on the fourth floor, where he and Jean lived. He said he heard what sounded like “two people meeting by surprise” and then two gunshots.
Brown, who became emotional at times and used his T-shirt and tissue to wipe his tears, said he had met Jean, a 26-year-old accountant for the first time earlier that day.
Guyger, 31, was fired from the department soon after the shooting. She was convicted Tuesday and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Lee Merritt, a lawyer for the Jean family, said in a tweet Saturday that he spoke with Brown’s mother and that she is “devastated.”
“We all are,” Merritt said. “Joshua Brown was a key witness in the murder of Botham Jean that helped put Amber Guyger away. We need answers.”In a statement he included with the tweet, he said authorities have not identified a suspect or determined a motive.
Joshua Brown was born in Jacksonville, Florida and graduated from South Florida State College. He managed Airbnb units in Los Angeles and Atlanta and was working in Dallas, where he and his family lived. According to his father, he was a father of three young children.
