White American police officer convicted of manslaughter of black woman US wants to massively expand economic cooperation with Africa

A US jury has found a white police officer guilty of manslaughter of a black woman in a nationally publicized criminal case. According to media reports, the jury did not convict Aaron Dean of murder on Thursday, as prosecutors had demanded.

Dean might because of the kill Atatiana Jefferson in 2019, up to 20 years in prison will be imposed. The fine will be communicated later. The Texas state case was awaiting debate structural racism and police brutality repeatedly cited as an example in the US.

Jefferson was playing a video game with her cousin and heard noises outside, so she grabbed her gun and went to the window. There in the back yard was Police Officer Dean, who had been called by a neighbor about an open door. Dean then shot the woman. According to the prosecutor, she had no way of knowing that the person behind the house was an official.

The Jefferson case came well before the sensational murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, which sparked the largest civil rights and anti-racism protests in the United States in decades in 2020. Dean’s trial had been repeatedly postponed, including due to the corona pandemic and legal evasions by the defense.

(yam/sda/dpa)