Atatiana Jefferson’s nephew watched her die. The family is suing the city for his trauma.
The family of Atatiana Jefferson, who a police officer shot and killed in her home in 2019, filed a federal lawsuit against the former officer and the city of Fort Worth on Wednesday about the emotional trauma Jefferson’s nephew endured when she was killed in front of him.
“At the age of 8,” the lawsuit says, Zion Carr “was forced to watch the murder of his aunt, Atatiana Jefferson, at the hands of Fort Worth Police.”
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas — Fort Worth division and lists Amber Carr, who is Jefferson’s sister and the child’s mother, as a plaintiff. The city of Fort Worth, former officer Aaron Dean, former Police Chief Ed Kraus and former Mayor Betsy Price are listed as defendants. None of the defendants immediately responded to requests for comment.
In October 2019, Dean fatally shot Jefferson, a 28-year-old Black woman, at her family’s home at 1203 E. Allen Ave. He and another officer were checking on the house after a neighbor called police at 2:25 a.m. and said the front door, which was normally closed at night, was open.
Inside, Jefferson and her then-8-year-old nephew were playing video games. The door was open to let in the cool autumn breeze.
Dean and his partner parked around the corner of the house and searched around the outside of the home. They opened a fence gate and walked into the back yard. Dean shone his flashlight through the back window, body-camera video of the shooting shows.
Jefferson, who had heard people moving around outside the house, grabbed her gun and walked to the bedroom to investigate, police have said. As she looked out the back window, Dean —standing outside the window with his flashlight — shot and killed her.
Zion was in the bedroom with Jefferson when she was shot. He also watched as Dean and his partner came into the house and gave Jefferson CPR “as she bled on the floor of her own home,” the lawsuit says.
According to the suit, the city is responsible for Zion’s trauma because the police department “has displayed a consistent and systematic failure to properly train and supervise its officers on the proper use of force.” The suit lists numerous cases that it says are examples of Fort Worth police using excessive force against people.
Dean was arrested and charged with murder in the days after Jefferson’s death. He has been out of jail on $200,000 bond since Oct. 14, 2019. No trial date has been set.
Jefferson’s family filed a separate wrongful death lawsuit against the city in May. Jefferson’s sister Ashley Carr is the plaintiff on that suit, which also was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. The suit accuses the city, Price and Kraus of causing her sister’s death as well as her mother’s. Yolanda Carr died 90 days after her daughter was killed inside their home.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 4:03 PM with the headline "Atatiana Jefferson’s nephew watched her die. The family is suing the city for his trauma.."
