Former Arlington police officer who killed man in traffic stop won’t serve prison time

A former Arlington police officer received deferred adjudication after he pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the 2018 shooting death of a man during a traffic stop.

Bau Tran was not sentenced to any prison time. He will serve six years of community supervision in the plea agreement approved on May 26, according to Tarrant County court records. Deferred adjudication means the judge decided to put Tran on probation and not enter a conviction on his record.

Tran shot and killed O’Shae Terry, 24, after Terry tried to drive away when police stopped his car on Sept. 1, 2018.

About 10 minutes into the stop, Terry started to roll up the windows of his SUV, according to video obtained by the Star-Telegram.

Tran grabbed the top of the passenger side window with his left hand, ordered Terry to stop, stepped onto the foot rail, put his right arm inside the vehicle and then brought it back out to reach for his gun, the video shows. He shot into the vehicle at least four times.

Dashcam footage from the shooting shows the car’s back lights lit up at 13:55:27. At 13:55:44, the car moved forward and about a second later, the first of at least four shots were fired.

Terry was initially stopped by Officer Julie Herlihy because the temporary tag on the SUV he was driving showed it was expired. Tran responded to the traffic stop after Herlihy said she smelled marijuana, and told Terry she was going to search the vehicle, according to the video footage released by the police department.

Once Tran arrived, he waited on the passenger side of the car while Herlihy went back to her cruiser. That’s when Terry tried to leave the stop.

In 2019, an Arlington Police Department internal investigation found that Tran’s use of deadly force violated city and department policies and he was fired.

Tran was indicted on the third-degree felony charge in May 2019. As part of his plea agreement, he will have to pay a $600 fine and $300 in court costs, according to court records.

If Tran violates the conditions of his community supervision during the probation term, the judge could then enter a finding of guilt and require him to serve time. But if he successfully completes his probation, after waiting another five years, he could apply for an order of nondisclosure to have records of the case sealed from the public.

This story was originally published June 1, 2023 at 9:16 PM.