Aaron Dean lost his job as a Fort Worth police officer because he shot a woman to death while investigating an alleged disturbance.
Now he gets to spend some time in a Texas prison, thanks to a sentencing decision handed down by the jury that convicted him of manslaughter in Atatania Jefferson’s death in 2019.
The sentence all told will be for 11 years, 10 months and 12 days in prison. It’s a curious sentence, to be sure. But the 10-month 12-day portion of the sentence is meant to memorialize the date of Jefferson’s death, Oct. 12, 2019.
Defense counsel argued for a probationary sentence. That would have been a mighty slap to a community wanted some measure of “real punishment” the white officer who shot a Black woman to death. Prosecutors wanted a 20-year maximum sentence.
I’ll accept that jurors settled on an interesting compromise, which comprises a little more than half the prison time that Dean could have gotten.
He’ll be eligible for parole after about five years. What happens then is anyone’s guess.
For now, the ex-Fort Worth police officer has received the punishment he deserves for the crime he committed.