Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger sentenced to 10 years in prison in murder of Botham Jean

“Former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger sentenced to 10 years in prison in murder of Botham Jean” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

A Dallas County jury sentenced former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, 31, to 10 years in prison Wednesday after deliberating for one and a half hours. The same jury found Guyger guilty of murder Tuesday morning.

Guyger, who is white, shot and killed unarmed 26-year-old Botham Jean, who was black, in his own apartment. She said she mistook Jean’s apartment as her own and thought he was a burglar. Guyger lived one floor directly below Jean. She was off duty, but still in her uniform when she shot Jean.

In a closing statement, a Dallas County prosecutor asked the jury to hand down a sentence of no less than 28 years, symbolic for how old Jean would have become days ago. In Texas, a murder conviction can result in a sentence ranging from five years to life in prison.

After the jury handed down a conviction Tuesday, the court turned to the punishment phase of the hearing. The jury heard from character witnesses for Jean and Guyger, with parents from both speaking to the jury.

Before they entered into deliberations, Judge Tammy Kemp told jurors that they could also consider if Guyger killed Jean in a “sudden passion” that arose out of provocation, according to WFAA. In Texas, if the jury accepted that argument, the sentence range drops from two to 20 years. The jury rejected the sudden passion defense.

After the sentence was announced, a small crowd of people gathered in the foyer outside the courtroom, yelling and crying in frustration over what they said was too short of a sentence, according to a WFAA livestream.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.